palladium

Forms

palladium n (genitive palladiī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek παλλάδιον (palládion), the neuter of παλλάδιος (palládios, “of Pallas”), from Παλλάς (Pallás), a name of Athena.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius uses it figuratively of a woman, who is called “a Palladium”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The word named an image or statue of Pallas, and above all the Trojan one, which was believed to protect the city, was said to have been stolen by Odysseus and later brought to Rome.^[5][1][6] Virgil tells of Ulysses and Diomedes setting out to tear the fateful Palladium from its temple.^[4][6] Wiktionary notes that several Italian cities later claimed such statues.^[1]

English took the word from Latin through Old French in the late 14th century for the image of Pallas, and used it for any safeguard from about 1600.^[3] The metal palladium, named in 1803, comes from the asteroid Pallas, named after the goddess.^[3]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius applies it to a woman.^[4][2]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions the Palladium.^[4][2]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil tells how the Palladium was taken from its temple.^[4][6][2]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as Palladioun, the image of Pallas.^[3]
• c. 1600 – English uses it for a safeguard.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An image or statue of Pallas.^[5][7]
2. The Palladium of Troy, a statue of Pallas held to protect the city and later brought to Rome.^[5][6][4]
3. (figurative) Said of a woman.^[4]

Related words

• English palladium

Usage notes

Medieval Latin also had a palladium “pall, shroud”, from palla, recorded about 1240.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company