Etymologically
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metallicus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mɛˈtal.lɪ.kʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [meˈtal.li.kus][1]

Forms

metallicus (feminine metallica, neuter metallicum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μεταλλικός (metallikós),[2][3] from μέταλλον (métallon, “metal, ore”).[3] Wiktionary, Georges and Gaffiot treat it instead as formed within Latin, from Latin metallum (“metal”) + -icus.[1][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Celsus, who says that some plasters are made from metallic substances (“emplastra … ex quibusdam metallicis fiunt”), meaning made of metal.[2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan.[6] Scribonius Largus has eye salves made from metallic substances,[7] and Pliny the Elder uses it both as an adjective and, as a noun, for the miners who wash the sands.[2][6][4] The jurists used metallicus for a convict condemned to the mines,[2][4][8] and Callistratus speaks of metallicum opus, mine labour.[2][8] In Cassiodorus it is a worker in stone.[5][1] English took over the adjective as metallic.[3]

Timeline

  • 14–37 AD – Celsus speaks of plasters made from metallic substances.[2][9]
  • c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it of eye salves.[7][9]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of miners.[2][4][9]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of a convict condemned to the mines.[4][8][9]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of a stone worker.[5][9]
  • 528–534 AD – The Code of Justinian uses it of miners.[4][5][9]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as metallic.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or made of metal, metallic.[2][6][5]
  2. Of or belonging to the mines.[2][8]

Noun

  1. A miner.[2][6][5]
  2. A convict condemned to work in the mines.[2][4][5]
  3. (Late Latin) A worker in stone.[5][1]

Usage notes

Chalcidius uses the feminine metallica as a noun for metallurgy.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de