pugillares

Forms

pugillārēs m pl (genitive pugillārium); third declension^[1] Also neuter plural pugillāria, certain in Catullus and Gellius, and a neuter singular pugillar in Laberius.^[2][3] The Vulgate has a singular pugillāris.^[4][3]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the plural from Latin pugillāris (“that can be held in the hand”), with libellī understood.^[2][1][3] pugillāris is formed from pugillus (“handful”),^[2] which de Vaan derives from an n-stem ⟨*pug-en-lo-⟩ beside pūgnus (“fist”); he traces these to Proto-Italic *puk/g-n(o)- (“fist”) and Proto-Indo-European *pu-n(e)-g/k-, comparing Ancient Greek πύξ (púx, “with the fist”) and Ancient Greek πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first is Laberius, with the neuter singular pugillar;^[2][5][6] Catullus has the neuter plural pugillaria.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a set of writing tablets small enough to be held in the hand.^[2] Lewis & Short and Georges cite it from Seneca's letters, Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger's letters and Suetonius.^[3][4] Prudentius has the adjective with cērae, “wax tablets”, and Ausonius the singular pugillar.^[3] Church Latin keeps “writing tablet”.^[7]

Timeline

• 106–43 BC – Laberius, pugillar.^[2][5][6]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus, pugillaria.^[2][3][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, in his letters.^[3][4][6]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has the plural.^[3][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has the singular pugillaris.^[4][3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A set of writing tablets small enough to hold in the hand, a notebook.^[2][3][1][7]

Related words

• pugillus
• pūgnus
• pugil
• tabella
• cōdicillus

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson