topazus

Forms

topazus f (genitive topazī); second declension^[1][2] Also topazos;^[3] Priscian's Periegesis makes it masculine.^[3] Other forms are topazius (Tertullian, the Vulgate) and the neuter topazion (Ambrose, Isidore of Seville).^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τόπαζος (tópazos, “topaz”),^[1][3][4] a Greek word of obscure origin.^[5][4] According to Etymonline, Pliny says the stone was named after a remote island of the Red Sea where it was mined, the island itself being named from a Greek verb meaning “to try to locate”; this may be a folk etymology, and the root of the Sanskrit word for “heat, fire” has also been proposed.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder (23/24–79 AD) describes it (37.107),^[3][4][2] apparently as a kind of chrysolite.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Georges explains the topaz of the ancients as partly our chrysolite and partly a greenish jasper or agate;^[3] Etymonline suggests yellow olivine or yellow sapphire.^[5] Venantius Fortunatus used topazus also as an adjective, of a bracelet made of topazes.^[3][6]

The word passed into Spanish topacio, Italian topazio and, through Old French, English topaz (mid-13th century).^[5]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the stone.^[3][4]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian has the form topazius.^[3][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has topazius.^[3][4]
• 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus uses it as an adjective.^[3][4]
• mid-13th century – English borrows it, through Old French, as topaz.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A precious stone, the ancients' topaz, apparently a kind of chrysolite.^[1][3]

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) Made of topazes.^[3][6]

Related words

• English topaz

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.