retinaculum

Forms

retināculum n (genitive retināculī); second declension^[1] It is almost always plural.^[2][3] Prudentius has a syncopated retināclum.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin retineō (“to hold back”) + -culum.^[2][1] De Vaan traces the simple verb teneō (“to hold”) to Proto-Italic *t(e)nē- and Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh₁- (“to hold”), a stative present to the root meaning “to stretch”; he finds the long ⟨ā⟩ of this noun unexpected and asks whether it was influenced by tenāx (“holding tight”) and ⟨tenācia⟩.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite it first from Cato's book on farming;^[3] Köbler's first author is Horace.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It is anything that holds a thing fast: Virgil has farmers making ties of Amerian willow for the vine,^[2][7] Livy a vessel tied to the bank with many strong cables,^[7] and Propertius says that two hawsers hold a ship better than one.^[2] Columella uses it of the ropes that hold young bullocks,^[2] Virgil of reins that a charioteer pulls in vain,^[2][4] and Horace of the rope of a mule that a lazy boatman ties to a stone.^[2][4] Figuratively it is a bond or tie: Pliny the Younger writes vītae retināculum abrūpit, of someone who broke the bonds of life,^[7][4] and Ammianus calls the laws the lasting ties of freedom.^[3] Medieval writers kept the senses of rope, mooring cable and bond.^[8] It is also a term of modern anatomy.^[1]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in his book on farming.^[3][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of ties for vines and of reins.^[2][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a towing rope.^[2][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of mooring cables.^[7][6]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a tether.^[2][6]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it figuratively of the laws.^[3][6]
• c. 1185 – A Scottish charter uses it of the mooring cables of ships.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rope or cord that holds something fast; a tie.^[2][3]
2. A hawser, cable for mooring a boat.^[2][8]
3. A tether.^[2][3]
4. A rein.^[2][4]
5. A towing rope.^[2]
6. A bond, tie (figurative).^[3][4][7]
7. (New Latin, anatomy) A retinaculum.^[1]

Related words

• retineō
• teneō
• tenāx

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c 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