runa

Forms

rūna f (genitive rūnae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Proto-Germanic *rūnō (“whispering, counsel, secret, rune”), according to Köbler,^[2] and Niermeyer also marks it as Germanic.^[3] The Germanic word is also the source of Old English run (“secret, mystery; runic letter”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word for runes is found in a poem of Venantius Fortunatus (536–c. 610 AD),^[2][5] who has a barbarian rune painted on ash-wood tablets: barbara fraxineis pingatur runa tabellis.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare and late: Lewis & Short, Georges and Gaffiot know it only from the poem of Venantius Fortunatus, where it names the runic characters of northern peoples.^[6][5][7] In Medieval Latin, also spelled rhuna, it meant runic script.^[3]

Timeline

• 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus speaks of a runa painted on ash-wood tablets.^[2][6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rune, a character of the runic script of northern peoples.^[6][7][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Runic script.^[3]

Usage notes

A separate, older rūna is a kind of weapon, perhaps a javelin or dart, known from Paulus' epitome of Festus, which quotes Ennius' runata recedit;^[6][5] the OLD marks its origin as doubtful.^[8] Conte cites it from Naevius.^[9] In British Medieval Latin, runa also meant a ditch, from Middle English ruine or rine (compare English runnel), recorded in a court roll of 1479.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ 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