Etymologically
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pertica

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Forms

pertica f (genitive perticae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is perhaps inherited from Proto-Italic *pertikā-.[2][1] Its further origin is unknown: connections with Ancient Greek πτόρθος (ptórthos, “sprout”) and Sanskrit कपृथ् (kápṛth, “penis”) have been proposed, but de Vaan finds neither convincing.[2]

Compare Oscan perek (“a measure of length”), which may be cognate or borrowed from Latin, and Umbrian perca (“rod, badge”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2][3] where someone wants a stick to beat the donkeys.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It was a long pole or staff, or a straight shoot cut from a tree, used for laying in furrows, propping vines, beating olives from the trees, and as a perch in an aviary.[6][4][5] From this it became a surveyor's measuring rod, the Roman rod of ten feet, and the land measured with it and assigned to a colony.[6][1]

Isidore of Seville derived it from portare, “to carry”, because unlike the other measures it is carried rather than part of the body.[7][3] Through Old French perche it gave English perch, a pole and a measure of length, in the late 13th century.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a stick for beating donkeys.[4][3]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of rods laid in furrows.[6][3]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of perches in an aviary.[5][3]
  • late 13th century – English perch is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pole, long staff, rod; a shoot.[6][1]
  2. A surveyor's measuring rod; the Roman rod of ten feet.[6][1]
  3. The land measured out and assigned to a colony.[6]

Word family

  • perticālis
  • perticārius
  • perticātus
  • English perch

Usage notes

Pliny the Younger's una pertica, “with one rod”, meant treating everyone the same way.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.