ratis

Forms

ratis f (genitive ratis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3] It has been connected with rētae “trees in a riverbed” and with Old High German ruota (“rod”), Old Norse róða (“rod, pole”), which de Vaan finds not compelling in sense.^[2][4] He suggests *Hrh₁-ti- “the rowing”, from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to row”) of rēmus “oar”, noting that rafts are pushed and steered with a pole.^[2][4] Varro explained the ratis as a long ship named from its oars, which look like two rafts when raised on each side.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.^[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a raft of beams joined together, as Cicero's and Caesar's rafts, and a flying bridge in Livy.^[3][7] In poetry it meant any boat or ship, as Ennius' ships on which the rain of Neptune roared.^[3]

In Medieval Latin it was a small boat, as Gildas' ships that brought foreign luxuries up the Thames and Severn.^[8] A different ratis was the Gaulish name of a fern.^[7][4] French radeau is a borrowing of it.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of ships.^[3][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of rafts.^[7][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A raft; a flying bridge.^[3][7]
2. (poetic) A boat, ship.^[3]

Word family

• ratiārius
• ratītus

Related words

• rēmus
• English radeau

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ 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