Etymologically
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pulla

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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