pannus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpan.nʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpan.nus]^[1]

Forms

pannus m (genitive pannī); second declension^[1] Ennius and Pomponius have the ablative plural pannibus, and Novius has a neuter pannum.^[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[4][1] It resembles Ancient Greek πῆνος (pênos, “woven cloth”) and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌰 (fana, “cloth”), with Old High German fano (“cloth”) and Old English fana (“banner”), but the vowels and the double /n/ cannot come from one PIE form, so they are probably loanwords from an unknown source.^[4][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus speaks of living on dirty bread in rags.^[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a piece of cloth or a rag, as Cato's oily rag, a bandage or compress, as in Columella, and scornfully a scanty garment.^[2][7] In the plural it was worn-out clothes, rags.^[2]

In medieval Latin it was cloth, a measured piece of cloth, a tapestry and a flap of a garment.^[8] Through Old French pan it gave English pane, at first a piece of a garment, and through Vulgar Latin *pannellus panel.^[5] It survives as Italian panno and Spanish paño.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of rags.^[2][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses an oily rag.^[2][6]
• early 14th century – English panel “piece of cloth” is recorded.^[5]
• mid-13th century – English pane “part of a garment” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A piece of cloth, a rag; a bandage.^[2][7]
2. A scanty garment.^[2]
3. (plural) Rags, tattered clothes.^[2][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) Cloth; a piece of cloth; a tapestry.^[8]

Word family

• pannifex

Related words

• English pane
• English panel

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill