Etymologically
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scala

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈskaː.ɫa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈskaː.la][1]

Forms

scāla f (genitive scālae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from scandō “to climb” with the suffix -la, from ⟨*scand-slā⟩, from Proto-Indo-European *skend-.[2][1][3] Hrach Martirosyan connects Old Armenian սանդուղք (sandułkʿ, “ladder”) and posits an Armeno-Italic ⟨*(s)kn̥d-sleh₂⟩.[1] Varro says it was used only in the plural, ⟨scālae⟩, and Quintilian condemns the singular as a barbarism, though Celsus and Gaius have it.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Ennius, of scaling ladders, and Plautus, of a ladder.[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a ladder or ladders, as in Plautus and Cato, and in war scaling ladders, as in Caesar and Virgil.[2] From Cicero it meant a flight of stairs in a building, and in Varro and Vitruvius open steps leading to a building or street.[2][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a ladder.[5] Medieval Latin used it for a harbour, a port of call, and a battalion.[6] It survives in Italian scala, French échelle and Spanish escala.[1]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of scaling ladders.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a ladder.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a staircase.[2][4]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of steps in a theatre.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A ladder; a scaling ladder.[2]
  2. A flight of stairs, staircase.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A harbour, port of call; a battalion.[6]

Word family

  • scālāris
  • scālārius

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill