vinculum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈwɪŋ.kʊ.ɫũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈviŋ.ku.lum]^[1]

Forms

vinculum n (genitive vinculī); second declension^[1] The contracted vinclum is the older form and is also used in classical prose.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin vinciō (“to bind”) + -ulum.^[2][1] De Vaan derives it from the verbal stem ⟨*u̯ink-⟩, with either ⟨*-(e)lo-⟩ or ⟨*-tlo-⟩; he reconstructs ⟨vinciō⟩ as Proto-Italic *wink- (“to tie, bind”), Proto-Indo-European *wi-n-k-, and compares Umbrian ⟨preuiślatu⟩ “to tie”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Plautus.^[5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was anything that binds: a chain or fetter on a prisoner's limbs, so that in vinculīs meant in prison; a band of clothing; a tie or fastening joining things; and figuratively a restraint on freedom and a bond of friendship or kinship.^[2][6][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin vinculum mātrimōniī is the bond of marriage.^[7] Medieval Latin used it also for a punishment and a proviso.^[8] English vinculum (1670s) is from it, used in mathematics for the line over grouped terms.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a tie.^[6][5]
• 1670s – English vinculum is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chain, fetter, (plural) imprisonment.^[2][7]
2. A band, cord, fastening.^[2][3]
3. (figurative) A restraint.^[2]
4. A bond (of friendship, kinship, marriage).^[2][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A penalty; a proviso.^[8]

Related words

• dēvinciō
• ēvinciō
• pervinca
• praevinciō
• prōvincia
• prōvinciālis
• vinciō
• vinctiō
• vinctor
• vinctūra
• vincō
• English vinculum

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