pulla

Forms

pulla f (genitive pullae); first declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin pullus¹ (“young animal, chicken”), used as a feminine noun.^[1][2] De Vaan derives pullus from a form with an inserted /s/, beside the Proto-Italic *put-lo- (“little boy, young of an animal”) that Sabellic continues, and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *put-lo- (“son”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's earliest example is a greeting painted on the wall of an upper room at Pompeii, ave pulla, addressed to a woman.^[1]

Semantic evolution

It was used of a girl and of a young female animal: Servius, in his commentary on Virgil, speaks of young mares (equae pullae).^[1] Isidore of Seville explains puella “girl” as if it were pulla, from smallness.^[1] Old French polle and Spanish polla keep the sense of a girl.^[1]

In medieval Latin it meant a hen or pullet: Du Cange equates it with gallina and quotes charters where hens are paid as rent.^[4][2]

Timeline

• c. 400 AD – Servius uses it of young mares.^[1][2]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville connects puella with pulla.^[1][2]
• 1536 – A decree of the Parlement of Paris lists two hens among the dues of a holding.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A young female animal;^[1] (of a woman) a chick, girl.^[1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A hen, pullet.^[4][2]

Usage notes

Medieval Latin had other words spelled pulla: a dark mourning garment, from pullus “dark grey”, which Isidore already explains;^[2][1] a young shoot;^[2] and a word for a pool or fishing place in English charters.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ 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 du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre