scalarium

Forms

scālārium n (genitive scālāriī or scālārī); second declension^[1] Köbler also gives scalerium,^[2] Niermeyer scaletium,^[3] and British sources scalaria.^[4]

Etymology

It is from Latin scāla + -ārium,^[4][2] formed in Medieval Latin.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest dated use in the DMLBS is in a document of about 1240 from Robertsbridge, where it means a stile.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin it meant a staircase.^[3][1] Köbler also glosses it as a post.^[2] In British documents it named a stile, a set of steps for crossing a fence, in particular a churchyard stile, and as a place-name it passed into a surname.^[4] The neuter of scālāris had a similar sense in Classical Latin.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1240 – A Robertsbridge document mentions a stile.^[4]
• 1275 – The Hundred Rolls record a new stile set up where there had been none.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A staircase, stairs.^[3][1][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) A stile; a churchyard stile.^[4]

References

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