Etymologically
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miscellus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mɪsˈkɛl.lʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [miʃˈʃɛl.lus][1]

Forms

miscellus (feminine miscella, neuter miscellum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is probably from Latin *minuscellus, a diminutive of minusculus (“somewhat smaller”), contracted to ⟨mīscellus⟩;[2][3][1] the meaning “mixed, miscellaneous” then came from association with misceō (“to mix”).[2][3][1] The TLL derives it from that verb through a form ⟨*misculus⟩, while reporting Leumann's derivation from ⟨*minuscellus⟩.[4] De Vaan treats it under minor2 (“smaller”), from Proto-Indo-European *meih₁-iō̆s- (“less”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cato,[5][3] who names the vītis miscella, an inferior vine, and says that such vines suit almost any ground.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Cato and Varro it is an epithet of a grape and of the vine bearing it, of inferior quality, and Cato also names a white vīnum miscellum made from it;[3] the exact force of the epithet is obscure.[3] Varro already uses it for “mixed”, of a third breed of pigeon produced from two stocks,[3][6] Suetonius of games made up of several kinds,[3][7] and Gellius of varied and confused learning.[3] The land surveyor Siculus Flaccus speaks of an aes miscellum, a bronze tablet that recorded both the first holders of land and those who succeeded them.[3][7] Martianus Capella spells it miscillus.[7][4]

In medieval Latin the neuter was used as a noun for a mixture[8] and for a brawl,[9] and in Britain for a book of miscellaneous contents.[8] The TLL notes an Old French meissian “mixed grain” from it,[4] and the Italian miscela (“mixture”) is traced to it.[1][10]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato names the vītis miscella and its wine.[3][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a hybrid breed of pigeon.[3][5]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius writes of lūdī miscellī, mixed games.[3][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of miscellaneous learning.[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. ūva miscella, vītis miscella: an inferior kind of grape and the vine that bears it;[3][1] vīnum miscellum, wine made from it.[3][1]
  2. Of mixed breed or type, hybrid.[3][6]
  3. Assorted, miscellaneous.[3][10]
  4. aes miscellum: a bronze tablet listing the original holders of land and their successors.[3][7]
  5. (Medieval Latin, as a neuter noun) A mixture; a miscellany.[8]

Word family

  • miscellāneus
  • miscelliō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c 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
  9. ^ Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
  10. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier