Etymologically
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schola

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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]
  • 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