Etymologically
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scrobis

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Forms

scrobis m or f (genitive scrobis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *skrof-i-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *skrobʰ-i- (“hollow, pit”).[2][1] Cognate with Russian скрести (skrestí, “to scratch”), Lithuanian skrebė́ti (“to rattle”), Latvian skrabt (“to scratch”) and Old English screpan (“to scrape”).[2][3] Balto-Slavic points to a root in *-bʰ-, with which Germanic agrees only partly.[2] Wiktionary relates it to scortum “hide” and cortex “bark”.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who has someone dig more than sixty holes a day.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a hole dug in the ground, a ditch or pit, especially for planting trees, as in Cato, and the hidden pits of Caesar's siege works.[3][5] It also meant a grave, as in Martial, Tacitus and Suetonius' Nero who had one dug to his measure.[3] It is mainly masculine, but feminine in Ovid, Columella, Lucan and Tacitus.[3] Priscian cites a nominative scrobs.[3][6]

In Medieval Latin it was a pit, trench or furrow, also of a badger's set, a salt-pit or a grave.[7] It survives in Romanian scorbură “hollow”, and English scrobe is borrowed from it.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of digging holes.[3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of planting holes.[3][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of hidden pits.[3][4]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a grave.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A hole dug in the ground, pit, ditch.[3]
  2. A grave.[3]

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 j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ 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