theca

Forms

thēca f (genitive thēcae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek θήκη (thḗkē, “case, box, receptacle”),^[2][1][3] from τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”),^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, set”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in his book on farming, uses it of the husk of grain.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is anything that holds or covers something else: a case, box, envelope or sheath.^[2][5] Cicero has silver vessels carried without their cases and a money box, Suetonius and Martial a pen case.^[5][6] Ambrose used it figuratively, calling faith a person's armour.^[6]

In Medieval Latin it was especially a shrine for relics and a side chapel,^[7][8] and in Britain a chest, a tabernacle for the sacrament or a coffin;^[9] a glossary of 1348 gives it for a thimble.^[8] Through Anglo-Latin ⟨teia⟩ it gave English tay “box, chest”, recorded from the late 13th century,^[4] and it survives in Italian teca.^[6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the husk of grain.^[5][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of cases for silver vessels.^[5][3]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has a thēca calamāria, a pen case.^[5][6][3]
• Medieval Latin – A reliquary.^[7][8]
• late 13th century – English borrows it through Anglo-Latin as tay.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A case, box, envelope, sheath (for holding or covering something).^[2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) A reliquary.^[7][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) A side chapel.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) A tabernacle for the sacrament; a coffin.^[9]

Word family

• thecatus

Related words

• capsa
• vāgīna

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b 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