stratum

Forms

strātum n (genitive strātī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter, used as a noun, of strātus, the past participle of sternō (“to spread, strew”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces sternō to Proto-Italic *sterna- and Proto-Indo-European *st(e)r-n-h₃- (“to spread, strew”), comparing Sanskrit स्तृणाति (str̥ṇā́ti, “to spread out, extend, strew”) and Ancient Greek στόρνυμι (stórnumi, “to extend, strew out”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Lucretius,^[4] who has the soft coverings of a bed and the stone pavements of roads worn down by the feet of the crowd.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is first a piece of bedding, a coverlet, and then a bed or couch: Nepos has a bed made of straw on the ground.^[2] It is also a saddlecloth or horse blanket: Livy has saddlecloths taken off mules.^[2] Vitruvius uses it of a level floor or platform, and strāta viārum are paved streets.^[2] English stratum “horizontal layer” (1590s) is a Modern Latin use of the word.^[5]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of bed coverings and paved roads.^[2][4]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of a straw bed.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of saddlecloths.^[2][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of a floor.^[2][4]
• 1590s – English stratum, a horizontal layer.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A piece of bedding, coverlet, blanket; a bed, couch.^[2][1]
2. A saddlecloth, horse blanket.^[2][1]
3. A level floor, platform;^[2][1] strāta viārum, paved streets.^[2][1]

Word family

• substrātum

Related words

• sternō
• English stratum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com