Etymologically
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topazus

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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]

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.