stibadium

Forms

stibadium n (genitive stibadiī or stibadī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek στιβάδιον (stibádion, “couch”),^[2][1][3] a diminutive of στιβάς (stibás, “bed of straw or rushes”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the letters of Pliny the Younger,^[4][5][6] for a semicircular couch.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It was the semicircular couch used at table.^[6][7] Martial gives the name as the heading of an epigram,^[4][7] Servius uses it in his commentary on the Aeneid,^[4][6] and Sidonius Apollinaris has it in his letters; it also appears in an inscription.^[4]

In British medieval glossaries it is a kind of table, and Osbern of Gloucester explains the form stipadium as a board on which a game is played.^[8]

Timeline

• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it as the title of an epigram.^[4][7][3]
• c. 400 AD – Servius uses it in his commentary on Virgil.^[4][6][3]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it in his letters.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A semicircular couch or seat, used at table.^[2][4][6]
2. (Medieval Latin, glossaries) A kind of table; a board for a game.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b 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