Etymologically
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riga

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Forms

riga f (genitive rigae); first declension[1][2] Medieval spellings include rega, reia and raia.[3][2]

Etymology

It is a Medieval Latin word of Celtic origin.[3][2] Köbler's source is from Gaulish rīka (“furrow”), which he traces to Proto-Indo-European *pr̥k̑ā (“furrow”), Pokorny's root *perk̑- (“to tear, dig”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot cites it from Bede's work on arithmetic, meaning a line.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense in Niermeyer is a furrow, and hence a ploughing service owed to a lord;[3] Du Cange also records it for a tax on fields.[4] It came to mean a line, stripe or stroke, a line of people waiting, and a line of writing;[3] Du Cange records it also for a stripe on clothing.[4] Köbler records Middle Low German rege beside it.[2]

Timeline

  • early 8th century AD – Bede's work on arithmetic uses it for a line.[1][2]
  • 1070 – It is found in the acts of a church council.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A furrow.[3][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A ploughing service owed to a lord.[3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A line, stripe or stroke.[3][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A line of people waiting.[3]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A line of writing.[3][4]

Usage notes

Köbler lists a second Medieval Latin riga (also rygga), “ridge of rock”, recorded in 1477, which he derives from Old English hrycg (“back, ridge”).[2] The Latin name of the city of Riga is Riga,[5] and the OLD has a Celtic cult title Rīga associated with Mars.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press