penna

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛn.na]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛn.na]^[1]

Forms

penna f (genitive pennae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *petnā-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pet-n-h₂- (“wing, feather”), from the root *peth₂- “to fly”.^[2][1] Old forms pesna and petna are reported by Festus.^[3][4] Cognate with Hittite 𒁉𒀜𒋫𒅈 (pattar, “wing”), Sanskrit पत्त्र (pátra-, “wing, feather”), Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “feather, wing”).^[2][3] The variant pinna may be a dialect form, and the two are confused in manuscripts.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, Köbler from Ennius, whose eagle flies against the wind with dense wings.^[2][5][3] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the plural it was a wing, and in the singular a feather, as Ennius' “race adorned with feathers” or the plume of a helmet, and Ovid once uses it of a spur of land of Sicily.^[3] Döderlein distinguishes āla, the wing as a joint, from penna, the wing as feathers.^[6]

In Late Latin it became a quill pen for writing, the sense Niermeyer gives first, and through Old French pene it gave English pen in the late 13th century.^[7][8] Italian penne “quills” gave the name of the pasta, recorded in English by 1959.^[8]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of an eagle's wings.^[3][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a spur of land.^[3][5]
• late 13th century – English pen is recorded, from the Late Latin sense “quill pen”.^[8]
• by 1959 – English penne is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wing (usually plural).^[3]
2. A feather; a plume.^[3]
3. A spur of land.^[3]
4. (Medieval Latin) A quill, writing pen.^[7][9]

Word family

• bipennis
• pennātus
• pennifer
• penniger
• pennipotens
• pennor
• pennula
• dēpennātus
• pennārium
• pennātulus
• pennescō
• pennipēs

Related words

• pterus
• passer
• pēnis
• petō
• pinna
• āla
• English pen
• English penne

Usage notes

Döderlein quotes Plautus' “my wings have no feathers” (meae ālae pennās nōn habent) for the difference between āla and penna.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ 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