tectorium

Forms

tēctōrium n (genitive tēctōriī or tēctōrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tēctōrius (“of plaster, of covering”) used as a noun, with opus (“work”) understood.^[2][1] The adjective is formed on tegō (“to cover”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato uses it in its general sense of a covering.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

From Varro and Cicero on it is chiefly the plaster or stucco of walls and ceilings, and in the plural pieces of plasterwork.^[2][4] Juvenal uses it satirically for a paste of flour that women spread on the face to keep the complexion.^[4]

Persius gave it a figurative sense, the smooth coating of flattering words, and Augustine echoes him.^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for a covering.^[4][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of walls and vaults coated with plaster.^[4][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for plasterwork.^[4][3]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it for the “plaster” of flattery.^[4][3]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it for a face pack.^[4][3]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine imitates Persius' figurative use.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A covering, cover.^[4][1]
2. Plaster, stucco; a wash or fresco painting on a wall;^[2][4] (plural) pieces of plasterwork.^[2][4]
3. A paste of flour put on the face as a cosmetic.^[4]
4. (figurative) Smooth words, flattery: pictae tectōria linguae, “the plaster of a painted tongue” (Persius 5.25).^[4]

Word family

• tectōriolum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press