phalerae

Forms

phalerae f pl (genitive phalerārum); first declension^[1] There is also a neuter plural phalera, -ōrum, in Varro and Pliny the Elder.^[2][3] It is spelled fal- in Varro and Apuleius and pal- in an inscription.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φάλαρα (phálara, “metal bosses”), the plural of φάλαρον (phálaron).^[2][1][3] Köbler compares φαλός (phalós, “white”) and the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shining, white”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[5] who in the Verrines writes of rewarding a man with bosses and a necklace.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a smooth, shining metal disc or boss worn on the breast, especially as a military decoration: Nonius calls them ornaments of war, and an inscription records a squadron of horsemen rewarded with them for bravery.^[3][2] It is also the trappings of a horse's forehead and breast: Virgil makes a horse decked with them the winner's prize, and Livy has the silver of the horses' trappings.^[2][3] Gellius uses it of the trappings of elephants.^[3] Figuratively it is embellishment, and Fronto says that in display oratory one must use ornament everywhere.^[2]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of military decorations.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of a horse decked with trappings.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the silver of horse trappings.^[2][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius of elephants' trappings.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Metal discs or bosses worn on the breast, especially as a military decoration.^[2][3][1]
2. Ornamental trappings for the forehead and breast of horses.^[2][3][1]
3. (figurative) Embellishments, ornament.^[2]

Word family

• phalerātus
• phalero

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 k 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 j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de