praetexta

Forms

praetexta f (genitive praetextae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the feminine participle from Latin praetexō (“to border, fringe”), with toga or fābula (“play”) understood.^[2][1] De Vaan lists it under texō (“to weave”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *tekse/o- and Proto-Indo-European *teḱ-s- (“to fashion”), comparing Sanskrit तक्षति (tákṣati, “to fashion”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucilius, who mentions bordered togas and Lydian tunics.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It is the toga with a purple border worn by curule magistrates and by freeborn children: Cicero speaks of someone loved when he was still in the bordered toga, that is, as a boy.^[2] Varro uses it of a serious play on a Roman historical subject, the fābula praetexta, named after the dress its actors wore.^[2][1]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius of the bordered toga.^[2][3][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of a Roman historical play.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a boy in the bordered toga.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The toga praetexta, a toga with a purple border, worn by curule magistrates and by freeborn children.^[2][1]
2. (drama) A serious play on a Roman historical subject.^[2][1]

Related words

• praetexō
• toga

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de