restis

Forms

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *reskti- (“rope”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *Hresg-ti- (“rope, cord”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *Hresg- (“to plait, bind”).^[2][3] Cognate with Sanskrit रज्जु (rájju, “rope”), Lithuanian rezgù (“I braid”) and Old Lithuanian rekstis (“basket”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character threatens a beating with ropes.^[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a rope or cord, as Plautus' rope of a ship driven onto the rocks, and in the plural the fibrous tops of garlic or onions twisted into strings.^[4] Terence's restim ductāre, to lead the rope, meant to lead a dance.^[5] The accusative was restim or restem.^[4][6] Döderlein distinguishes fūnis, a thicker rope for drawing, from restis, and both from laqueus, the noose.^[7]

Its descendants include Italian resta and Spanish ristra.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus threatens a beating with ropes.^[4][3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence speaks of leading the dance by the rope.^[5][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rope, cord.^[4]
2. (plural) The fibrous tops of garlic or onions twisted into strings.^[4]

Word family

• restiārius
• resticula

Related words

• fūnis

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper