tignum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtɪŋ.nũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtiɲ.ɲum]^[1]

Forms

tignum n (genitive tignī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *teg/k-no- (“plank, timber”), probably from *tegno-.^[2][3] Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny derived it from *(s)teg- “stake”, cognate with Old High German stehho (“stake”) and Old English staca (“stake”), which de Vaan finds unattractive because that root is not otherwise found in Italic.^[2][3][1] He prefers *(s)teg- “to cover”, the root of tēctum “roof” and tēgula “tile”, or perhaps *teḱ- “to fashion”.^[2] Lewis and Short connected texō and Ancient Greek τέκτων (téktōn, “carpenter”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the Twelve Tables.^[2] Köbler dates them to about 450 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a piece of timber, a beam, board or plank, and collectively building timber, as Varro's carts that carry stones, planks and timber.^[3] Caesar uses it of the beams of his Rhine bridge.^[6] In law it meant building materials in general.^[6] Döderlein says a tignum is a shorter, thicker beam, while trabs is a longer, narrower one; a raft is made of trabēs, the woodwork of a building of tigna.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it was a timber plank, rafter or lath.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of timber.^[3][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the beams of his bridge.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A beam, board, plank.^[3]
2. Building timber; building materials.^[3][6]

Word family

• contignum
• tigillum
• tignārius
• contignō

Related words

• tegō
• texō
• trabs

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ 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