mataxa

Forms

mataxa f (genitive mataxae); first declension^[1] Also spelled metaxa, the headword in Georges and Lewis & Short.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μέταξα (métaxa).^[1] The OLD compares the Greek word,^[4] which Georges gives with a variant μάταξα (mátaxa); both he and the TLL call it a foreign word.^[2][5]

Ancient grammarians explained it otherwise: Isidore took ⟨mataxa⟩ as if it were ⟨metaxa⟩, from the winding of the threads, because he understood mēta as a circuit.^[5] It lives on in Italian matassa and Old French maaisse.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius is the first to use it, for a cord.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the form mataxa it meant rough thread, tow or a cord, in Lucilius and Vitruvius;^[4][2] in the form metaxa it was raw silk, the thread of silkworms, in the jurist Marcian and the Theodosian Code.^[2] Glossaries render it with Greek σειρά (seirá, “cord”).^[8] In medieval Latin it was a skein and a hackle for dressing flax,^[9][10] and Du Cange glosses it as silk.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it for a cord.^[2][12]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it for rough thread.^[2][12]
• 3rd century AD – The jurist Marcian uses metaxa for raw silk.^[2][12]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code has it for raw silk.^[2][12]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains it as if metaxa, from the winding of threads.^[5][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. Rough thread, tow; a cord.^[4][2][7]
2. (as metaxa) Raw silk.^[2][13]
3. (Medieval Latin) A skein.^[9]
4. (Medieval Latin) A hackle.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
10. ^ a b 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
11. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
12. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
13. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli