silvaticus

Forms

silvāticus (feminine silvātica, neuter silvāticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin silva (“wood, forest”) + -āticus.^[2][1][3] De Vaan finds no etymology for silva itself.^[3]

In Late Latin it was altered by vowel assimilation to ⟨salvaticus⟩, the source of Old French sauvage and of English savage.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato the Elder is its first author.^[3][5] In the De agri cultura he lists falces silvaticae, billhooks for work in woodland,^[2][6] and he also uses it of plants growing wild.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was “belonging to the woods”: Cato and Varro use it of tools made for woodland work.^[2][8] It soon meant “wild” of plants and animals, as opposed to cultivated or tame ones: Varro has a wild pear and wild pigs,^[6][8] Pliny the Elder a wild mouse and Petronius a wild pig.^[8]

In medieval Latin it kept the sense “wild” and also became a noun of forest law, for the right to use a forest and the dues paid for driving pigs into it or gathering wood.^[9] British charters use it of wooded land and of people living in woodland.^[10] Its Late Latin form ⟨salvaticus⟩ passed into Old French as sauvage, which English borrowed as savage, first of fierce animals in the mid-13th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder writes of woodland billhooks and wild plants.^[2][6][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of wild pears and wild pigs.^[6][8][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of a wild mouse.^[8][5]
• before 66 AD – Petronius speaks of a wild pig.^[8][5]
• 940 – A British charter speaks of loca silvatica, wooded places.^[10]
• mid-13th century – English borrows Old French sauvage, from its Late Latin form, as savage.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to woodland or scrub; of tools, used in woodland.^[2][6]
2. Of plants and animals, growing or living wild.^[6][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) Wooded, situated in woodland.^[10]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, law) The right to use a forest, a forest easement.^[9]
2. (Medieval Latin) Dues paid for pasturing pigs in a forest or for gathering wood.^[9]

Related words

• silvester
• silvicola
• English savage

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ 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