subula

Forms

sūbula f (genitive sūbulae); first declension^[1] A Pompeian inscription has the syncopated form subla.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin suō (“to sew”) + -bula, with the suffix of instruments.^[2][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of suō, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *siuH-ie/o- (“to sew”).^[3] Wiktionary reconstructs the noun as *syuh₁-dʰleh₂ and compares Proto-Slavic *šidlo (“awl”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Seneca on,^[3] who uses it in his letters as a proverbially inadequate weapon: subulā leonem excipis? “do you meet a lion with an awl?”.^[2][4] A Pompeian graffito has the short form subla for a shoemaker's awl.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was the shoemaker's awl: Martial taunts a shoemaker that what the awl gave him, the dagger takes away, and Columella mentions a bronze one.^[2][4] The Vulgate uses it of boring through an ear.^[4]

It survives as Italian subbia.^[5]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca has it in a proverb.^[2][6]
• 1st century AD – Columella mentions a bronze awl.^[4][6]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a shoemaker's tool.^[2][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for boring through an ear.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shoemaker's awl.^[2][4]
2. (figurative) A tiny, useless weapon.^[4]

Word family

• dēsūbulō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b 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 f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de