Etymologically
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tumba

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtʊm.ba][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtum.ba][1]

Forms

tumba f (genitive tumbae); first declension[1] Medieval Latin also spelled it tomba.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound, tomb”), made into a first-declension noun;[1][3] Lewis & Short and Köbler give a Greek feminine τύμβα (túmba) as its model.[4][5] Wiktionary traces the Greek word to Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”), and Etymonline reports the same suggestion from Watkins, but also Beekes' view that it is Pre-Greek and that Latin tumulus “mound” may contain the same Mediterranean word.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in Prudentius (348/49–c. 413), in his poem on the martyr Hippolytus: sunt et muta tamen tacitas claudentia tumbas marmora, “yet there are also mute marbles that close silent tombs”.[6][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a Late Latin word for a grave or tomb, used by Jerome and in the travel account of Egeria.[7][1] Medieval writers kept it for a grave or tomb,[2][8] and Ecclesiastical Latin also uses it of a catafalque.[9] In Italian sources Du Cange finds it for an open yard and for a farmstead.[6] The British name Mons Tumba was Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy.[8]

It gave Italian tomba and Spanish tumba, and through Old French tombe English tomb (about 1200); French tombeau comes from a diminutive *tumbellus.[3][7]

Timeline

  • 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it of tombs closed with marble.[6][4][5]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it.[7][5]
  • after 384 AD – The travel account of Egeria has it.[7][5]
  • c. 1200 – English tombe, from Old French.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A grave, tomb, sepulchre.[4][2][8][9]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A catafalque.[9]
  3. (Medieval Latin) An open yard; a farmstead (in Italian sources).[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson