Etymologically
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scortum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈskɔr.tũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈskɔr.tum][1]

Forms

scortum n (genitive scortī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *skort-o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sk(o)rt-o- (“what is cut”), from the root *(s)ker- “to cut”, so “skin, hide”.[2][1] cortex “bark” and corium “hide” come from the same root, and the OLD compares Russian скора (skora, “hide”).[2][3] Varro says the ancients called a skin scortum.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, who asks whether a man would snatch a harlot from her lover.[2][4][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense, “skin, hide”, is known only from Varro and late writers such as Tertullian.[2][5] Used as a euphemism, the word for “skin” came to mean a prostitute or courtesan, the usual sense from Plautus on, as in Cicero, and also a male prostitute.[3][5] The verb scortārī meant to go with harlots.[3]

Döderlein contrasts scortum, a common harlot, with paelex, a married man's mistress, and meretrīx.[6] In British medieval Latin it was a piece of bark, by confusion with cortex.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a harlot.[3][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro records the old sense “skin”.[3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[5][4]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a hide.[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A skin, hide.[3]
  2. A prostitute, harlot.[3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Bark.[7]

Word family

  • scortātus
  • scorteus
  • scortillum
  • scortor
  • scortulum

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b 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