Etymologically
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orarium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [oːˈraː.ri.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [oˈraː.ri.um][1]

Forms

ōrārium n (genitive ōrāriī or ōrārī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ōs1 (“mouth”) + -ārium, with the same suffix as sūdārium.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from the Old Latin Bible (the Itala) on,[2] which uses it for a cloth or handkerchief in the Gospel of John.[4]

Semantic evolution

The Edict of Diocletian lists kinds of such cloths, and the Historia Augusta mentions them too, once as waved to show applause.[2][5] Jerome names oraria among the small gifts that holy love has no need of, and Augustine and Prudentius use it for a handkerchief.[2][4][5] Lewis and Short cite it from Lucilius, but the TLL calls that an old misreading of toracia.[5][2]

In the Church it became the name of the stole,[6][7][3] the sense of its Old French descendant orier.[2] Medieval sources also use it for a neck-tie or shawl and for a kneeler.[7]

Timeline

  • after 220 AD – The Itala uses it for a cloth.[2][4][3]
  • 301 AD – The Edict of Diocletian lists kinds of oraria.[2][3]
  • 4th/5th century AD – The Historia Augusta mentions cloths waved in applause.[5][3]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome names oraria among small gifts.[2][3]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it for a handkerchief.[5][4][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A napkin, handkerchief, a cloth for the face.[5][2][7]
  2. A cloth waved to show applause.[5]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A stole.[6][7][3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A neckcloth or shawl.[7]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A kneeler, hassock.[7]

Usage notes

Köbler and Du Cange record a separate medieval orarium from ōrāre “to pray”, a priest's prayer book.[3][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre