tapete

Forms

tapēte n (genitive tapētis); third declension^[1] Also tapētum (neuter) and tapēs (masculine, from the Greek); the nominative tapēs was not used, according to Charisius.^[2][3][4] Plural forms include tapētia, tappētia, tapēta, tapētae and tapētēs.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τάπης (tápēs, “carpet, rug”).^[2][3][5] The Greek word is traditionally taken to be an Iranian loan, as Köbler also gives it;^[5][6] Beekes thinks its many variant forms point to a Pre-Greek origin instead.^[5] Its descendants include Italian tappeto, Old High German teppīh and German Tapete.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD and Conte cite it first from Livius Andronicus, in the plural tapeta.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

It was a usually ornamented woollen cloth or rug used to cover walls, floors, tables and couches, or hung up as a tapestry,^[2][8] a near-synonym of stragulum.^[8] The forms vary widely: Plautus has the plural tappetia, Ennius tapetae, and Virgil the Greek masculine accusative plural tapetas.^[2][3] The word remained in use in the Vulgate.^[3]

Timeline

• 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses the plural tapeta.^[2][7]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has the plural tappetia.^[2][3][6]
• 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius has the singular tapete.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil has tapetibus and tapetas.^[3][6]
• AD 390–406 – The Vulgate has the plural tapetia.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A usually ornamented woollen cloth, rug or carpet, used as a covering or hanging; tapestry.^[2][8][3]

Related words

• English tapestry

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press