solidata

Forms

solidāta f (genitive solidātae); first declension^[1] Spellings with sold- and the endings -ada and -ita (soldata, solidada, soldada, solidita) are also found.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is a medieval formation from Latin solidus (“solidus, shilling”), the coin.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates its first record to 903, in a charter.^[1] The first sense Niermeyer gives is the value of one shilling.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the value of a shilling the word passed to goods worth that much, and to the amount of land that brought in a shilling of rent each year.^[2][1] It then named a fief held as a money rent (French fief-rente) and the pay of mercenaries.^[2][1]

Du Cange took its basic sense to be the value of one shilling, and quotes a charter of 1069 in which an abbot and his monks agree to give 240 solidatae to Archbishop Rostagnus.^[3] In a French text of 1317 cited by Du Cange the word appears as souldées of bread.^[3]

Timeline

• 903 – First recorded, in a charter.^[1]
• 1069 – A charter records a payment of 240 solidatae to an archbishop.^[3]
• 1317 – A French statute for the royal household reckons bread in souldées.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shilling's worth, the value of one solidus.^[2][3]
2. Goods worth one shilling.^[2]
3. An area of land yielding a yearly rent of one shilling.^[2][1]
4. A fief consisting of a money rent.^[2][1]
5. The pay of mercenary soldiers.^[2][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre