Etymologically
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nutritura

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Forms

nūtrītūra f (genitive nūtrītūrae); first declension[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin nūtriō (“to suckle, nourish”), with the suffix -ūra.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Jeanneau cite it from Cassiodorus (c. 485–c. 580 AD), meaning a nursing or suckling;[1][4][3] Gaffiot's citation for the act of nourishing is from Peter of Blois's work on Christian friendship.[2]

Semantic evolution

It became a word of medieval charters,[3][5] where it meant feeding and rearing, food and keep,[5][6][7] and especially the upkeep a lord gave to his followers.[8] Du Cange explains it with French nourriture.[7]

Of animals it meant rearing and then what was reared: the young of cattle, a herd or flock.[8][5][6] In English legal records it was also the responsibility for bringing up a minor heir.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of nursing.[1][3]
  • 10th century – It appears in charters.[3]
  • 1204 – A charter from England uses it of what is gained by rearing.[5]
  • c. 1230 – A custumal of Waltham speaks of a tenant's herd of pigs in a wood.[5]
  • 1278 – A letter of Edward I of England to Joanna, queen of Castile, thanks her for the upbringing and care of his daughter.[7]
  • 1279 – An English record gives a widow the rearing of the heir.[5]
  • 1354 – A Silesian charter records the sale of a flock of 150 sheep.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) Nursing, suckling.[1][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Feeding, nourishment, food and keep.[5][6][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Upkeep given by a lord to a follower.[8]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The young of cattle; a herd or flock.[8][5][6]
  5. (Medieval Latin, law) Responsibility for rearing a minor; wardship.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Jeanneau, Gérard; Woitrain, Jean-Paul; Hassid, Jean-Claude (2017), Dictionnaire latin-français, online ed., prima-elementa.fr
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  6. ^ a b c d e Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill