serro

Forms

serrō (present infinitive serrāre, perfect active serrāvī, supine serrātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin serra (“saw”) + -ō.^[2][3][1] serra goes back to Proto-Italic *sersā- (“saw”) and Proto-Indo-European *sers-h₂- (“cutting off”); within Latin, de Vaan finds its best connection in sāriō (“to hoe, weed”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Late Latin word.^[2] Ambrose and Jerome use it in comments on Isaiah, and Vegetius writes of stakes being sawn (pali serrantur), all in the sense “to saw up”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The Vulgate uses it of things sawn and also of people sawn apart;^[3] British Medieval Latin has it for sawing wood and stone, and for sawing as a method of execution.^[5] In Late and Medieval glosses it also means “to close, shut”, which Wiktionary puts down to the influence of a like-sounding verb;^[1] Niermeyer files medieval serrare under the words for a bar or bolt, sera.^[6]

Its Romance descendants include Italian serrare, Catalan serrar and Portuguese serrar.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it in comments on Isaiah.^[2][3][7]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it in his commentary on Isaiah.^[2][3][7]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of sawing, also of people.^[3][7]
• c. 400 AD – Vegetius writes of stakes being sawn.^[2][3][7]
• 1296 – Accounts for a galley at Newcastle record payment for sawing timber.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To saw, saw up or saw to pieces.^[2][8]
2. To saw (a person) apart, as a method of execution.^[3][5]
3. (Late Latin) To close, shut.^[1]

Word family

• serratorius
• serratura

Related words

• serra
• English serrate

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c 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
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.