Etymologically
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palliolum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [palˈli.ɔ.ɫũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [palˈliː.o.lum][1]

Forms

palliolum n (genitive palliolī); second declension[1] Also spelled paliolum and paleolum in manuscripts and glossaries.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin pallium (“cloak, mantle”) + -olum, a colloquial diminutive.[3][2][1] De Vaan lists pallium among the derivatives of palla (“mantle”), for which he finds no etymology; it may be a loanword.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the TLL record it from Plautus on.[5][2] In the Epidicus a character is told palliolum in collum conice, “throw your little cloak round your neck”, and in the Miles gloriosus one is to wear a rust-coloured palliolum fastened on the left shoulder.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It was a small Greek mantle, especially the philosopher's.[6][7] A line of Caecilius quoted by Cicero says that wisdom is often found under a shabby little cloak, sub palliolo sordido.[6] Varro uses it in describing other garments.[3]

It also named a covering for the head, a hood: Ovid advises a lover not to think it shameful to put a palliolum on his hair, and Quintilian says that only ill health excuses one, as it does bandages and mufflers.[6][8][2] Seneca uses it of thin people wrapped in a hood and neckcloth, and Jerome in rules for sick monks.[2]

In Medieval Latin it was also a small altar-cloth.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a cloak thrown round the neck.[2][5]
  • 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius speaks of wisdom under a shabby palliolum.[6][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it for a covering for the head.[6][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian says only ill health excuses wearing one.[6][5]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it in rules for sick monks.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small cloak or mantle of the Greek kind.[3][6][7]
  2. A covering for the head, a hood.[6][7][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A small altar-cloth.[9]

Word family

  • palliolātim
  • palliolātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill