vestimentum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [wɛs.tiːˈmɛn.tũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ves.tiˈmɛn.tum]^[1]

Forms

vestīmentum n (genitive vestīmentī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vestiō (“to clothe”) + -mentum, from vestis “clothing”.^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨vestis⟩ to Proto-Italic *wes-ti- (“clothes”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to wear”), cognate with Sanskrit वस्ते (váste, “wears”) and Hittite wešš- (“to wear”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is Plautus, nūdō vestīmenta dētrahere “to strip clothes off a naked man”.^[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant clothing, and in the plural clothes, garments, as in Plautus, Cicero and Livy; and in Terence a blanket, rug, bedclothes.^[2][6][4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means garment, vestment, robe.^[7] Medieval Latin used it for a rent paid to acknowledge a lord's ownership.^[8] It survives as French vêtement, Italian vestimento and Romanian veșmânt, and English vestment (c. 1200) is from it through Old French.^[1][9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of bedclothes.^[2][5]
• c. 1200 – English vestment is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Clothing, (plural) clothes, garments.^[2][6]
2. A blanket, rug.^[2]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A vestment.^[7]

Related words

• vestiō
• vestis
• English vestment

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com