Etymologically
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plagia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɫa.ɡi.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈplaː.d͡ʒi.a][1]

Forms

plagia f (genitive plagiae); first declension[1] Medieval spellings include ⟨plaia⟩, ⟨plaja⟩, ⟨plazia⟩ and ⟨plaza⟩.[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.[4][1][2] The TLL takes it as the noun use of the adjective plagius (“slanting, oblique”), which is borrowed from Ancient Greek πλάγιος (plágios, “slanting, oblique”).[4] Wiktionary suggests instead a blend of plaga2 (“tract, region”) with Greek πλάγια (plágia, “sides, flanks”), from the same Greek adjective, and compares Greek πλαγιά (plagiá, “mountain slope, hillside”).[1] Köbler refers it to the Latin noun, and Niermeyer and the DMLBS treat it as a spelling of that noun;[2][3][5] Etymonline calls it the noun use of an adjective in ⟨plagia regiō⟩, from the word for “region”.[6]

Isidore of Seville derives pelagus (“the open sea”) from a Greek word for breadth, and says that shores are called ⟨plagiae⟩ from it because they have no harbours.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Itinerarium Antonini, of the 3rd century, is its first source: there it marks places on the coast where ships could put in, as distinct from harbours.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Servius, explaining Virgil's statiō, says it is a place where ships stay for a time, “which they call plagia”, while a harbour is where they winter.[4][8] Gregory the Great writes of a monastery of Gaza that lies in plagiā.[8]

In Medieval Latin it meant a beach or seashore, a slope or hillside, flat open ground, and the aisle of a church.[3][1][8] A charter of 1019 lists plagiae and plains among lands, pastures and woods,[8] a record from Narbonne of 1250 complains of fishing in a lagoon where it opens onto “our plagia”, and a charter of 1290 grants fishing rights in plagiā maris et in altā maris, on the shore and on the high sea.[8]

The Romance words for the beach go back to it: Italian piaggia, French plage, Spanish playa, Portuguese praia and Catalan platja.[1][4] Conte gives the Medieval Latin word as the source of the Italian one.[9] English plage “region, district” comes from Old French and directly from the Late Latin word.[6]

Timeline

  • 3rd century AD – The Itinerarium Antonini uses it of places on the coast where ships put in.[4][2]
  • c. 400 AD – Servius says an anchorage is called a plagia.[4][2]
  • 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great writes of a monastery that lies in plagiā.[8][2]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name by the lack of harbours.[4][2]
  • 1019 – A charter lists plagiae among lands and plains.[8]
  • 1250 – A record from Narbonne uses it of a stretch of shore.[8]
  • late 14th century – English borrows plage.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) An open shore where ships can put in, an anchorage without a harbour.[4][8]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A beach, seashore.[3][1][8][2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A slope, hillside.[3][1][2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Flat open ground, a field.[3][8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The aisle of a church.[3]

Usage notes

Du Cange also records a plagia meaning “pederasty”, from the statutes of Mantua, and refers it to plagium.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier