Etymologically
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restis

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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

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