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striga

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word striga

striga1 row, strip

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1st century AD, Columella
Inherited from
Proto-Italic *strigā
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *strig-

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈstrɪ.ɡa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈstriː.ɡa][1]

Forms

striga f (genitive strigae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The row or strip is inherited from Proto-Italic *strigā (“strip, row”),[2] a noun from the root of stringō in its sense “to strip off, scrape”.[2][3] De Vaan explains the two meanings of that verb (“to tie” and “to strip off”) as a merger of Proto-Indo-European *strig- (“to brush, strip”) and *strengʰ- (“to tie”), and puts this noun, with strigilis and perhaps stria, with the first;[2] Wiktionary likewise calls it a cross of the two roots.[1] The OLD also refers to both words.[3]

Cognate with Old High German strīhhan (“to brush”) and Old English strīcan (“to rub”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Columella (1st century AD) uses it for a windrow: hay dried on both sides is gathered into a row.[3][4][5] The epitome of Festus defines the word as rows of things set one after another.[3]

Semantic evolution

Land surveyors used it of a strip of land longer than it is broad, opposed to the scamnum,[3][6] and in army language it was a side avenue in a camp.[3][4] Bede explains it as a camp word for the space between squadrons of cavalry, “in quo equi stringuntur”,[7][6] and glossaries derive strigōsus “lean” (of horses and men) from it.[8][6]

De Vaan takes the verb strigō “to halt” as made from this noun and stria: “to draw furrows”, then “to stop and turn at the end of the field”.[2]

Timeline

  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a windrow of hay.[3][5]
  • c. 100 AD – Frontinus uses it of a strip of land in surveying.[3][5]
  • first third of the 8th century – Bede explains it as a camp word.[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A row or strip of things set one after another; in farming, a windrow of cut hay.[3][4]
  2. (surveying) A strip of land longer than it is broad.[3][4]
  3. (military) A side avenue in a camp, between the squadrons.[3][4][7]

Word family

  • strigātus
  • strigō
  • strigōsus

striga2 witch

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 66 AD, Petronius
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek στρίγα
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek στρίξ

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈstriː.ɡa], [ˈstrɪ.ɡa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈstriː.ɡa][1]

Forms

strī̆ga f (genitive strī̆gae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The witch is borrowed from Ancient Greek στρίγα (stríga), the accusative of στρίξ (stríx, “owl”), turned into a first-declension noun.[3][1] The same Greek word gave strix “screech owl”;[3][1] Wiktionary takes it to be imitative in origin and related to strīdeō “to make a shrill sound”.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Petronius (before 66 AD) is the first to use it, of hags who do harm to children.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The OLD defines it as an evil spirit believed to howl at night, a kind of vampire.[3] A Greek–Latin glossary renders it “a sorceress”.[4][8]

Early medieval laws took the belief seriously enough to forbid acting on it: the Edict of Rothari forbids anyone to kill another's maidservant as a striga, “which is called masca”, and punishes calling a woman a striga.[6] A capitulary of Charlemagne for the Saxons condemns anyone who, deceived by the devil, believes in the pagan way that a man or woman is a striga who eats people.[6] Medieval Latin also had the form stria, meaning a witch.[9] It lives on in Italian strega and Romanian strigă.[1]

Timeline

  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of child-harming hags.[4][5]
  • 643 – The Edict of Rothari forbids killing a woman as a striga.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A female evil spirit believed to shriek at night; a vampire.[3][1]
  2. A witch, hag, sorceress.[4][9][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ a b c 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
  8. ^ a b Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill

Descendants

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Striga.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/striga. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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