scamillum

Forms

scamillum n (genitive scamillī); second declension^[1] A masculine scamillus also occurs,^[1] and Georges and Gaffiot head it as scamellum.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin scamnum (“bench”) + -lum, a diminutive,^[1][2] and the OLD treats it as a variant of scabellum, citing the grammarian Scaurus.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius uses it in architecture for the steps or ledges of a stylobate.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

Its first meaning is a low stool or little bench, which Priscian quotes from Apuleius.^[1][2][3] Vitruvius applies it to the unequal steps that level a stylobate,^[1] and, in his description of a catapult, apparently to the ledge that supports the arrow, where the manuscripts read camillum.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a stylobate's ledges and a part of a catapult.^[1][4]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for a low stool, as Priscian reports.^[1][2][4]
• 6th century AD – Priscian discusses the form.^[2][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A low stool, a little bench.^[1][2][3]
2. (architecture) One of the steps or ledges of a stylobate.^[1]
3. In a catapult, apparently the ledge that supports the arrow.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de