raeda

Forms

raeda f (genitive raedae); first declension^[1] It is also spelled rēda,^[2][3] and rhēda, which Lewis & Short and Georges call a false spelling, appears in Scribonius Largus.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Proto-Celtic *reido-: Quintilian names it with petorritum among the Gallic words that won a place in Latin.^[1][3][2][4] Wiktionary compares the second element of Proto-Celtic *uɸoreidos (“horse”) and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- (“to ride, go”), the root of English ride, road and raid.^[1] Köbler cites the same root from Pokorny.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short's first quotation is from Varro, quoted by Nonius;^[3] Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a four-wheeled travelling carriage, used on journeys with family and baggage.^[2][4] Caesar uses it in the Gallic War, Cicero of riding in a carriage, and Horace of being taken up into a coach.^[3][4][6] Later writers have a hired coach in Suetonius, a silver-plated coach in Lampridius, and an official one, raeda fiscālis, in Sulpicius Severus; the Vulgate pairs horses and carriages.^[4] In British Medieval Latin it is a vehicle or cart, and was also taken as the shaft of a cart.^[7] Köbler records medieval senses of ploughing and sowing service.^[5]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses the word.^[3][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar in the Gallic War.^[3][6][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of travelling in a carriage.^[3][4][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian calls it a Gallic word.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A four-wheeled travelling carriage, coach.^[2][3][1][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) A vehicle, cart; the shaft of a cart.^[7]

Word family

• raedārius

Related words

• petorritum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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