plectrum

Forms

plēctrum n (genitive plēctrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πλῆκτρον (plêktron, “thing to strike with”),^[2][3][1][4] from πλήσσω (plḗssō, “to strike”).^[1][4] Köbler traces the Greek word to the root Proto-Indo-European *plāk- (“to strike”) of Pokorny.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[5] who says that people commonly call the tongue like a plectrum, the teeth like strings and the nostrils like horns.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is the quill with which the strings of a lyre were struck.^[2][3] In poetry it stands for lyric poetry: Horace tells another poet that he will sing of Caesar with a greater plectrum.^[2] Wiktionary also gives the lyre itself.^[1] Silius Italicus uses it of a ship's helm.^[2] Glosses explain it as the striker of the cithara, the small stick by which it is played, and also the helm.^[6] English plectrum (late 14th century) is from Latin.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the tongue as a plectrum.^[2][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of lyric poetry.^[2][5]
• 25–101 AD – Silius of a ship's helm.^[2][5]
• late 14th century – English plectrum.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A plectrum, quill for striking the strings of a lyre;^[2][3][1] (poetic) lyric poetry.^[2][3][1]
2. A lyre, lute.^[1]
3. The helm of a ship.^[2]

Word family

• plectripotens

Related words

• English plectrum

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 k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften