repositorium

Forms

repositōrium n (genitive repositōriī or repositōrī); second declension^[1] A syncopated form repostōrium appears in the Historia Augusta.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin repōnō (“to put back, store”) + -tōrium,^[4][1] a noun for a thing on or in which something is placed, made from the stem of the participle ⟨repositus⟩.^[2][5] De Vaan explains pōnō (“to put, place”) as an old compound ⟨*po-sinō⟩ “put down”, related to sinō (“to let, leave”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Seneca,^[7] who, like Petronius and Pliny the Elder, uses it of the stand on which the courses of a meal were brought to the table.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is the serving stand of a Roman dinner;^[4] Georges describes it as a tall, tiered piece of furniture, each tier carrying one course.^[3] It also served as a general word for a place where things are kept: a cabinet for valuables in the Historia Augusta,^[2][8] a storehouse in Augustine,^[3][8] and a tomb in Julius Valerius.^[3][8] Isidore and the scholia on Horace use it to explain apothēca and grānārium.^[3] Medieval Latin kept the senses of treasure chest, storehouse and tomb.^[9][1] English took repository in the late 15th century, from French or directly from the Late Latin word in the sense “store”.^[10]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a serving stand.^[7][2]
• before 66 AD – Petronius describes the stands at a banquet.^[2][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder mentions it several times.^[2][7]
• Late Latin – Augustine uses it of a storehouse.^[3]
• 2nd quarter of the 9th century – Walahfrid Strabo uses it.^[7]
• late 15th century – Borrowed into English as repository.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stand or tray on which the courses of a meal were carried to the table.^[4][2]
2. (Late Latin) A cabinet or repository; a storehouse.^[2][3][8]
3. (Late Latin) A tomb.^[3][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) A treasure chest; a storehouse; a tomb.^[9][1]

Related words

• repōnō
• pōnō
• English repository

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com