Etymologically
Log in

sarcina

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 00:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsar.kɪ.na][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsar.t͡ʃi.na][1]

Forms

sarcina f (genitive sarcinae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is related to sarciō (“to patch, mend”),[2][1] and de Vaan lists it among that verb's derivatives.[3] He traces ⟨sarciō⟩ to Proto-Italic *sarkje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sr̥k-ye/o- (“to make good, emend”), cognate with Hittite šarnink- (“to compensate”) and Ancient Greek ἕρκος (hérkos, “fence, enclosure”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler give Plautus as its first author.[3][4] In the Trinummus a young man abroad must carry shield, helmet and pack (sarcina).[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a bundle tied up to be carried, a soldier's pack, and in the plural baggage and movable belongings, as Martial's “wife, luggage and slaves are safe”.[2][5] Lewis and Short note that classical prose uses only the plural, and Cicero not at all.[5] It is also a load or burden, the bulk of the body that crushes the mind (Seneca), and a responsibility, as Ovid's wife entrusted to friends as their burden.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “burden, pack”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a soldier's pack.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a burden and a responsibility.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of the bulk of the body.[2][4]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial of belongings.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pack, bundle; a soldier's kit.[2][1][6]
  2. (plural) baggage, belongings.[2][1]
  3. A load, burden; bulk.[2][1][6]
  4. (figurative) A burden, responsibility.[2][1]

Word family

  • cōnsarcinō
  • sarcinalis
  • sarcinārius
  • sarcinātor
  • sarcinātrix
  • sarcinātus
  • sarcinōsus
  • sarcinula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson