raptura
Forms
raptūra f (genitive raptūrae); first declension[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin raptus + -ūra, from the past participle of rapiō (“to seize, carry off”).[2][1] The TLL derives it from the verb and marks the word as doubtful in Classical texts.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
The grammarian Probus names it as a noun formed from rapere, beside raptor.[3][1]
Semantic evolution
Medieval Latin used it for the carrying off of a person, an abduction, usually with sexual violence, that is, rape; a penitential attributed to Boniface punishes the rape of a virgin or a widow.[2] A charter of 749 uses it for catching fish in rivers, where a variant reading has captura.[2] The Anglo-Saxon glossary of Ælfric glosses raptura with an Old English word for whey.[4]
English took the word over around 1600 as rapture, first “the act of carrying off”, and soon also “spiritual ecstasy”.[5]
Timeline
- 4th century AD – Probus cites it as a noun formed from rapere.[3][1]
- 749 – A charter uses it for the catching of fish.[2]
- c. 1600 – Borrowed into English as rapture.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- (Medieval Latin) Abduction of a person, rape.[2]
- (Medieval Latin) The act of catching or taking, especially of fish.[2]
- (Medieval Latin, glossary) Whey.[4]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e f 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
- ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com