strata

Forms

strāta f (genitive strātae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sternō (“to spread out, pave”), short for ⟨via strāta⟩ “paved road”, with the feminine of the verb's past participle.^[1][2][3] The Latin word is the source of Italian strada, Old French estrée and Spanish estrada,^[2] and an early loanword in the Germanic languages: Old English stræt, Old Saxon strāta, Old High German strāza, whence English street, Dutch straat and German Straße.^[2][4]

Isidore of Seville explained it as a road “trodden” by the feet of the people, quoting Lucretius, and as “paved” with stones.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Christian poet Juvencus;^[4] Georges cites two passages of his Gospel poem.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it is the paved road or highway, in the historians Eutropius and Orosius, in Augustine, Victor of Vita and the Theodosian Code, and in an inscription.^[3][6] Procopius, in his Persian War, notes that the Latins call a paved road strāta (Greek στράτα (stráta)).^[7]

Medieval Latin kept the sense “paved road, highway”,^[8][4] with strāta lēgitima for a main road or highway.^[4] Etymonline notes that English street is one of the few words used in England continuously since Roman times.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 325 AD – Juvencus uses it in his Gospel poem.^[4][3]
• c. 370 AD – Eutropius has it for a paved road.^[3][6][9]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it.^[3][4]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the word.^[5][4]
• Medieval Latin – It means a paved road or highway.^[8][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) a paved road, highway, street.^[3][6][9][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) a highway;^[8][4] strāta lēgitima a main road.^[8][4]

Related words

• strātum
• via
• English street

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier