Etymologically
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masca

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Forms

masca f (genitive mascae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[2][3] Wiktionary takes it as borrowed from Proto-West Germanic *maskā (“mesh”), from mesh netting worn over the face, with “spectre” and “witch” as secondary senses.[1] The TLL, Köbler and Niermeyer suggest instead an Arabic source,[4][3][5] which Etymonline gives as Arabic مَسْخَرَة (masḵara, “buffoon”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated example is in the Edict of Rothari (643), which forbids killing another's female servant as a striga, “quod est masca”: a witch.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Aldhelm puts the masca beside the larva among things a brave soldier does not fear, a spectre or bogey,[7] and Anglo-Saxon glosses render it with Old English grima.[4][7] The lexicographer Ugutio equates it with stria “witch”, and Gervase of Tilbury says that lamiae are popularly called mascae.[6] The sense “mask” appears in English records of the 16th century,[7] and the word continues in Italian maschera, the source through French of English mask, and in Occitan masca.[1][2]

Timeline

  • 643 – The Edict of Rothari uses it for a witch.[6][3]
  • 639–709 – Aldhelm uses it of a spectre.[7][3]
  • 1530s – English mask is first recorded.[2]
  • 1545 – An English patent names a “master of revels and masks” (mascorum).[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A witch, hag.[5][6][3]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A spectre, nightmare.[7][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A mask.[7][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press