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pellicula

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word pellicula

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius
Ultimate origin
Latin pellis
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pellis
French peau
Italian pelle
Latin pellicula
From the same root
Latin pellitus ← pellis

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛlˈlɪ.kʊ.ɫa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pelˈliː.ku.la][1]

Forms

pellicula f (genitive pelliculae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive, from Latin pellis (“skin, hide”) + -cula.[2][3][1][4] That noun goes back to Proto-Italic *pelni- and Proto-Indo-European *pel-ni- (“skin, hide”); its cognates include Lithuanian plėnė̃ (“membrane”), Old High German fel, Old English fell and Old Norse fjall (“hide”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the OLD first record it in Lucilius,[4][2] of the skin of a living creature.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant both the skin of a living body and a skin stripped from an animal: Cicero has couches spread with kidskins, Juvenal calls the Golden Fleece a stolen pellicula, and Celsus and Pliny the Elder use it of skin as a material for dressings and amulets.[2][3] Celsus also uses it of the skin of fruit.[2]

Several sayings used it for a person's own self: Horace has pelliculam cūrāre, to look after one's own comfort;[2][3] Martial tells a cobbler to keep within his own skin, that is, to stay in his own station;[2][3] Persius speaks of keeping one's old skin, alluding to the fable of the ass in the lion's skin.[2][3] Varro reports that rustics in the Atellan farces called a prostitute pellicula,[2][3] a use the TLL compares with Spanish pelleja, which also has that meaning.[5]

British medieval writers used it for a membrane in anatomy and for the skin of grapes.[6] English pellicle comes from the medieval word,[7] and in New Latin it names a film.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of the skin of a living creature.[2][8]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro reports it as rustic slang for a prostitute.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of kidskins spread on couches.[2][8]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace has the phrase pelliculam cūrāre.[2][8]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of the skin of fruit.[2][8]
  • c. 1400 – English borrows the medieval word as pellicle.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The skin of a living creature;[2][3] the skin of a fruit.[2]
  2. A skin stripped from an animal, a hide;[2][3] skin as a material.[2]
  3. (slang) A prostitute.[2][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A membrane.[6]
  5. (New Latin) A film.[1]

Word family

  • pelliculō

Usage notes

The figurative phrases pelliculam cūrāre (“to look after oneself”) and in pelliculā suā tenēre (“to stay within one's own station”) are attested in Horace and Martial.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b 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
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Pellicula.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/pellicula. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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