maxilla

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [maːkˈsɪl.la]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [makˈsil.la]^[1]

Forms

māxilla f (genitive māxillae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of māla “cheekbone, jaw”, from ⟨*maksl-⟩ with -la.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Italic ⟨*smakslā⟩ for ⟨māla⟩.^[1] Cicero himself noted the relation of ⟨māla⟩ and ⟨maxilla⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Cicero, and Gaffiot cites his Orator.^[5][4] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the jawbone, the jaws, usually in the plural, as in Celsus, and the jaw seen from outside, the lower face, as in Columella.^[2][4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means cheek, jaw, cheekbone, jawbone.^[6] It survives as Italian mascella, Spanish mejilla “cheek” and Romanian măsea “molar”, and English maxilla is from it.^[1]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[4][5]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of the jawbones.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The jawbone, jaw.^[2][7]
2. The lower part of the face.^[2]

Word family

• māxillāris
• māxillō

Related words

• māla
• axilla
• English maxilla

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press