sculptura

Forms

sculptūra f (genitive sculptūrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sculpō (“to carve”) + -tūra;^[2][1] the OLD compares the older scalptūra.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius has it first,^[3][2] saying that white and black poplar, willow and lime are easy to work in carving.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder uses it of carved work,^[2][4] Quintilian of the art of carving,^[4] and Suetonius of the engraving on the stone of a ring, which showed the rape of Proserpina.^[4] In a passage of Capito quoted by Macrobius it is the figure cut into a signet ring,^[2] and Ampelius describes a marble altar with very large carvings.^[2] English borrowed it in the late 14th century as sculpture, for the art of carving.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of carving in wood.^[2][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of carved work.^[2][4][3]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it for the engraving of a ring's stone.^[4][3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as sculpture.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of carving or engraving.^[2][4]
2. A carved or engraved figure, a sculpture.^[2][4][1]

Word family

• sculptūrātus

Related words

• English sculpture

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 j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com