pannulus

Forms

pannulus m (genitive pannulī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the diminutive from Latin pannus + -ulus.^[1][2][3] De Vaan finds no Indo-European etymology for the base: if Ancient Greek πῆνος (pênos, “woven cloth”) and Old High German fano (“cloth”) belong with it, they are probably loanwords from an unknown source.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Apuleius uses the plural in the Metamorphoses for ragged clothes.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Ammianus Marcellinus uses it for the scraps into which a worn tunic falls apart.^[2][6] British Medieval Latin kept both the small piece of cloth and, in the plural, tattered clothes or rags;^[7] inventories list pannuli among church furnishings and vestments.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses the plural for rags.^[2][3]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus writes of a tunic torn into scraps.^[2][3]
• 1222 – An English inventory lists two pannuli for a faldstool.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A scrap of cloth, a small piece of cloth.^[1][8]
2. (plural) Rags, ragged clothes.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press