Etymologically
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pannus

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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
  • 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