Etymology and origin of the Latin word retina
retina1 rein
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 650–800, Glossarium Ansileubi
- Ultimate origin
- Latin retineō
From the same root · retina1
Forms
retina f (genitive retinae); first declension[1]
Etymology
The rein is from Latin retineō (“to hold back”), a noun made from the verb;[1] Wiktionary calls this the usual explanation.[1] As an alternative it gives a back-formation from retinācula (“reins”), a plural far more common than the singular, reinterpreted as a feminine.[1] Etymonline likewise takes the Vulgar Latin source of Old French resne, and so of English rein, to be a back-formation from the same verb.[2]
It lives on in Italian redine and French rêne.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Wiktionary dates its first record to the Glossarium Ansileubi, a glossary written between 650 and 800.[1] Du Cange quotes the chronicle of the Anonymous of Salerno: apprehensaque equi retina, celeriter eum Beneventum ducebat, “and having seized the horse's rein, he quickly led him to Benevento”.[3]
Semantic evolution
Du Cange explains it by Latin habena and Italian redine, and compares Virgil's retināculum in the Georgics.[3]
Timeline
- 650–800 – The Glossarium Ansileubi records it.[1]
- c. 1300 – English rein appears, from Old French.[2]
Meanings
Noun
retina2 retina of the eye
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- before 1250
- Ultimate origin
- Latin rēte
Pronunciation
Forms
rētīna f (genitive rētīnae); first declension[1]
Etymology
The retina of the eye is from Latin rēte (“net”), formed with the suffix -īna.[4][5] Wiktionary explains it as a shortening of the phrase ⟨tunica rētīna⟩, “net-like coat”, after the fibrous texture of the membrane; the phrase is recorded from at least the 12th century and the noun alone from the 13th.[1] Etymonline likewise says the name comes from the likeness of its blood vessels to a net.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Köbler dates it before 1250, after Latham's dictionary.[5] The British medical and scientific writers the DMLBS quotes use it of the inner coat of the eye: Bartholomaeus Anglicus describes it as formed from the veins and arteries of the pia mater and woven in the manner of a net.[4]
Semantic evolution
Roger Bacon, in his work on perspective, says that the first coat spreads from the end of the optic nerve and branches like a net, so that it is called rete or retina;[4] John Peckham divides the membrane into the aranea in front and the retina behind.[4]
Timeline
Meanings
Noun
Usage notes
Du Cange also lists retina as the glossaries' Latin for Greek ῥητίνη (rhētínē, “resin”);[3] Wiktionary takes this rētīna as a medieval spelling of rēsīna, closer to the Greek.[1] Retina was also the name of a town in Campania near Herculaneum, in a letter of Pliny the Younger.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
- ^ a b c d e 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry
“Retina.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/retina. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
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