tessera

Forms

tessera f (genitive tesserae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τέσσαρες (téssares, “four”),^[1] Lewis & Short comparing the Ionic form τέσσερες (tésseres), so that the word first meant a square piece.^[2] The OLD suggests instead that it is shortened from a Greek word for “four-cornered”, equal to τετράγωνος (tetrágōnos, “square”),^[3] and Köbler also considers such a short form.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has the tessera hospitalis, the token of guest-friendship: ad eum hospitalem hanc tesseram mecum fero, “I bring this token of hospitality with me to him”.^[3] In another play, breaking the token means ending the friendship.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is a small square or cubical block, as in the mosaic pavements of Vitruvius.^[3][5] Most often it is a die, marked on all six sides, unlike the tālus marked on four:^[2][3] Terence compares human life to a game of dice, and Cicero and Livy speak of throwing them.^[3][2] Many uses come from its being a square token or voucher.^[3] The guest-token was divided between friends so that they or their descendants could recognise each other by fitting the pieces together.^[3][2] Under the Empire a tessera was a ticket for a public distribution of grain or money, or for admission to a show, as in Martial.^[3][5] In the army it was the small tablet carrying the watchword and orders of the day, and so the watchword itself, in Livy, Virgil and the Bellum Hispaniense.^[3][2][5] Church Latin has it as a token or ticket.^[6] British medieval writers use it for a die, for a chessman or other gaming piece, and for chance and fate.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of the token of guest-friendship.^[3][5][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence, of dice.^[3][2][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius, of square pieces in pavements.^[3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, of the watchword in war.^[2][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial, of a ticket of admission.^[3][4]
• Medieval Latin – A die or a chessman.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small square or cubical block, as in a mosaic.^[3][5][1]
2. A die marked on all six sides.^[3][2][1]
3. A token or voucher:^[3][1] tessera hospitalis, a token divided between guest-friends;^[3][2] a ticket for a distribution of grain or money or for admission;^[3][5][1] an identifying stamp.^[3]
4. (military) A tablet carrying the watchword and orders; the watchword itself.^[3][2][1]
5. (Medieval Latin) A chessman or other gaming piece.^[7]

Word family

• contessero
• tessella
• tesserārius
• tesserātus
• tesserula

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
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