stiva

Forms

stīva f (genitive stīvae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] De Vaan notes that it is uncertain whether stilus (“pointed stake”), stimulus (“goad”) and ⟨stīva⟩ belong together, but that one might see in them a root ⟨sti-⟩ “sharp object”.^[3] Pokorny sets it under Proto-Indo-European *(s)tei- (“sharp, spike”) as Proto-Indo-European *stei-u̯ā, and adds that the Romance languages point to *stēva.^[4][5] Varro derived it from stō (“to stand”), because it is the upright bar of the plough.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first author is Cato.^[3] It is the handle of the plough, the shaft by which the ploughman guides it.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Varro describes it as the upright bar set on the ⟨dens⟩, the part that bites into the earth, with a crossbar, the ⟨manicula⟩, which the ploughman holds in his hand.^[6] Virgil, Ovid and Columella use it of the plough-handle,^[7][8] and Valerius Maximus has the phrase “to go back to the rustic plough-handle”, that is, to farming.^[9]

The word stayed in use in Medieval Latin: Aldhelm, Bede and the Old English glossaries have it, glossed as sulhandla,^[10] and English manor accounts of the 14th century record new plough-handles bought and one bound with iron.^[10] Italian stiva comes from it.^[8]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.^[3][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro explains it as the upright part of the plough.^[6][7][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Georgics.^[7][8][5]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it.^[10][5]
• 1343 – English manor accounts record two new plough-handles bought.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The handle of a plough, the shaft by which it is guided.^{[2][7][10][8]}

Usage notes

Köbler records a separate medieval stiva, of unknown origin, for a kind of bagpipe and a neume.^[5]

References

1. ^ 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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
7. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
10. ^ a b c d e 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