Etymologically
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solium

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈsɔ.li.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɔː.li.um][1]

Forms

solium n (genitive soliī or solī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Italic *sodjo- (“seat”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sod-yo- (“seat”), from the root of sedeō “to sit”, with /d/ becoming /l/ as in oleō beside odor.[2][3][1] Cognate with Old Irish suide (“seat”).[2] De Vaan finds Walde and Hofmann's objection unconvincing, since a bathtub is a sitting bath.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who speaks of the spring that rises under the throne of Jupiter.[2][3] Cato lists high-backed chairs and tubs among a farm's equipment.[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a high-backed chair, as the chair of the head of a household or of a patron receiving clients, and especially a royal chair or throne, of gods and kings.[3][5] By its shape it was also a bathtub, especially a single bath in a bathhouse, and a kind of sarcophagus.[3] Isidore says kings sit on it for protection.[6]

In medieval Latin solium rēgnī was the royal dignity, and of God it was the throne of judgement.[7][8] It survives in Italian soglio (“throne”).[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of the throne of Jupiter.[3][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato lists chairs and tubs on a farm.[3][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of a tub of hot water.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A high-backed chair.[3]
  2. A throne.[3]
  3. A bathtub.[3]
  4. A sarcophagus.[3]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Royal or episcopal dignity.[7]

Word family

  • soliar
  • soliāris
  • archisolium

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 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. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ 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