schola

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈskʰɔ.ɫa]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈskɔː.la]^[1]

Forms

schola f (genitive scholae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ, “leisure; learned discussion”).^[2][1][3] The Greek sense “leisure” developed into “leisure spent on learning” and then “lecture, school”.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Lucilius (c. 180–102 BC), who uses the Greek accusative scholen of the school that Polemon handed on to Crates.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a lecture or learned discussion, as Cicero's lectures lasting five days, and a school of philosophy or rhetoric where a teacher set out his views.^[2][7] By metonymy it meant the followers of a teacher, a school of medicine, law or philosophy, as the school of Erasistratus.^[2]

It was also a hall or exedra with benches, and an art gallery.^[2][1] In Late and Medieval Latin it was a corps of guards, a guild or college, and a school in general.^[6][1] Old English scol was borrowed from it, the source of English school.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a philosophical school.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of lectures.^[2][7][6]
• Old English – scol is borrowed from it.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lecture, learned discussion.^[2][1]
2. A school (of philosophy, rhetoric).^[2][1]
3. The followers of a teacher, a school, sect.^[2][1]
4. A hall with benches, an exedra; an art gallery.^[2][1]
5. (Late Latin) A corps, guild.^[6]

Related words

• scholāris
• scholasticē
• scholasticus
• English school

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes ludus, a school for boys, from schola, a higher school for youths and men who wish to learn.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper