pergamena

Forms

pergamēna f (genitive pergamēnae); first declension^[1] Köbler also records percamēna.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Περγαμηνή (Pergamēnḗ), short for “Pergamene hide”, with διφθέρα (diphthéra, “hide”) understood.^[1][3] Etymonline explains it as the adjective “of Pergamum” used as a noun, the city in Mysia where parchment was supposedly adopted as a substitute for papyrus.^[4] Isidore of Seville says that the kings of Pergamum, lacking paper, first devised writing skins, and that the name has been kept ever since.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wiktionary gives its first record as Diocletian's edict.^[1] Isidore of Seville explains the word in the Etymologies, meaning parchment.^[5][6][2]

Semantic evolution

The word meant parchment, and in Medieval Latin also a document written on it.^[2] Medieval forms include percamēna and the neuter pergamenum, under which Du Cange treats it.^[2][7] English parchment (about 1300) comes from Old French parchemin and directly from Medieval Latin pergamentum, both going back to this word,^[4] and Italian pergamena continues it.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name.^[5][2]
• c. 1300 – English has parchment from Old French and Medieval Latin.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) Parchment.^[1][6][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) A document.^[2]

Related words

• English parchment

Usage notes

The proper noun Pergamēna, the territory of Pergamum in Pliny the Elder, is a separate word.^[6][9][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ Gardani, Francesco; Pellegrini, Matteo et al. (2026), DynaMorphPro: loanwords, conversions and class shifts in Latin and Old Italian, CIRCSE / LiLa, github.com/CIRCSE/DynaMorphPro (CC BY-SA 4.0)
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli