Etymologically
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puellula

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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]

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