occa

Forms

occa f (genitive occae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *oketā-, Proto-Indo-European *h₂oḱ-et- (“harrow”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”).^[2][1] Cognate with Welsh oged (“harrow”), Lithuanian akėčios (“harrow”), Old Prussian aketes (“harrow”) and Ancient Greek ὀξίνα (oxína, “a toothed harrow”) in Hesychius.^[2] The double ⟨cc⟩ is hard to explain: Hirt assumed metathesis, *okita > *otika > *otka, while de Vaan also suggests a borrowing from an Italic dialect where *kt became kk.^[2] Since the verb occō “to harrow” is attested much earlier, the TLL takes the noun as a back-formation, but de Vaan argues that a first-conjugation verb presupposes a noun.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it only in late texts and glosses.^[2] Lewis and Short cite Vegetius, whom Köbler dates c. 400 AD.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a harrow, and is a post-classical word.^[4][6] Glosses equate it with rāstrum “rake” and with Greek bōlokopēma “clod-breaking”.^[4] In Medieval Latin it was still a harrow, an implement for breaking up the soil.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 400 AD – Vegetius uses it.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A harrow.^[4][6][7]

Related words

• aceō
• ocris
• occō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ 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