vara

Forms

vāra f (genitive vārae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vārus (“bent outwards”), the feminine of the adjective used as a noun, for a structure with diverging branches.^[2][1][3] De Vaan's tentative explanation of the adjective is Proto-Italic *wā-ro- (“going apart”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ueh₂-ro-.^[4] Italian varare (“to launch”) is from it.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius uses it for the frame of crosspieces under which a battering ram was hung, as a shelter for the siege engine.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Columella it is a forked pole used as a support when cutting slips from a tree,^[2][3] and in Lucan a forked pole on which nets are spread.^[6][3] Ausonius quotes the proverb sequitur vāram vibia, said of one misfortune following another.^[6][5]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a shelter for a battering ram.^[2][7]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a forked support.^[2][7]
• 39–65 AD – Lucan uses it of a forked pole for nets.^[6][3][7]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius quotes a proverb with it.^[6][5][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A frame of crosspieces, a shelter for a siege engine.^[2][3][5]
2. A forked pole used as a support; a trestle.^[2][6][8]
3. A forked pole for spreading nets.^[6][3]

Related words

• vārus

Usage notes

Medieval Latin had other words spelled vara: a legal term for the risk of invalidating an oath by an error in pronouncing it, of uncertain origin, attested in 1147,^[9][7] and in Du Cange a kind of bird trap, a footpath, and the standard of a coinage.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre