puellula

Forms

puellula f (genitive puellulae); first declension^[1] Some manuscripts of Gregory of Tours spell it puellola.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin puella (“girl”) + -ula,^[1][2] and that noun is a diminutive of puer (“boy, child”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the TLL date it from Terence,^[3][2] whose Phormio tells of a young man who found a girl lyre player, puellulam citharistriam, and fell madly in love with her.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The TLL finds it in verse from Terence on and in prose only from Arnobius; it was used more often with affection than to mean a small girl, and usually of a young woman.^[2] Catullus calls the bride of his wedding song a blooming young girl whom Hymen hands over from her mother's lap,^[2][4] and Jerome uses it in his commentary on Isaiah.^[4]

Medieval British writers used it for a little girl or a maiden: William of Canterbury tells of a girl of about eight.^[5]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a girl lyre player.^[2][6]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a bride.^[2][6]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius is the first to use it in prose.^[2][6]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it in his commentary on Isaiah.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A girl or young woman, often said with affection.^[1][2][7]
2. A little girl.^[4][5]

Related words

• puella
• puer

References

1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b 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 d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier