Etymologically
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scheda

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈskʰɛ.da][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈskɛː.da][1]

Forms

scheda f (genitive schedae); first declension[1] The OLD heads it ⟨schida⟩, also spelled ⟨scida⟩.[2] Lewis & Short give ⟨scida⟩ or ⟨scheda⟩, and Georges notes that Detlefsen reads ⟨schida⟩ in Pliny and Gilbert ⟨scheda⟩ in Martial.[3][4] Medieval spellings include ⟨sceda⟩ and ⟨ceda⟩.[5][6]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σχίδη (skhídē),[7][5][4] which Lewis & Short also give as σχέδη (skhédē), Wiktionary's form, glossed “papyrus leaf”.[3][1] The OLD compares Hesychius' σχίδα (skhída),[2] which Beekes lists, with the sense “a cutting of fine cloth; a breakage”, among the derivatives of σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *skid- (“to cut, split, separate”).[8] Isidore of Seville already knew it as a Greek word, like tomus.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero is the first to use it, as the smallest piece of writing paper: he asks Atticus to see that not one schida of the books L. Papirius Paetus has given him is lost.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Its first meaning was one of the strips of the papyrus plant that were glued together to make a sheet of writing paper, as Pliny the Elder describes it.[2][4][3] Cicero, Quintilian and Martial use it for a leaf or sheet of paper.[2][3][4] Isidore of Seville explains it as a text that is still being corrected and has not yet been copied into books.[9]

In Medieval Latin it was a piece of writing, a letter, and especially a charter or deed.[10][11][6] Aldhelm speaks of the praises of Anatolia and Victoria read aloud from scedae in church, and John of Salisbury uses it of writing material.[11] A charter of 962 from Girona calls itself a sceda.[6] Its diminutive schedula lived on as the ordinary word for a slip of paper.[10][12]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a sheet of writing paper.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a strip of papyrus.[4][3][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian speaks of sheets not worth reading.[2][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains it as a draft not yet copied into books.[9][5]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of written texts read in church.[11][5]
  • 962 – A charter from Girona calls itself a sceda.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One of the strips of papyrus glued together to make a sheet of writing paper.[2][4][1]
  2. A leaf or sheet of paper, the smallest piece of writing paper.[2][3][4]
  3. (Late Latin) A text still being corrected, a draft.[9]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A piece of writing; a letter.[11]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A charter, deed.[10][11][6]

Word family

  • schidia

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
  7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  8. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  10. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  11. ^ a b c d e 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
  12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com