incunabula English · revision 1140

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|incunabula|t=swaddling clothes, cradle; birthplace, beginnings]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''in-'' “in” and ''cūnābula'' “cradle”, from ''cūnae'' “cradle”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The singular is ''incunabulum''.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The earliest stages or first traces in the development of anything (1824).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense of books printed in the infancy of printing, especially before 1501, is recorded in English from 1861.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) It probably refers to ''Incunabula Typographiae'', the first catalogue of such books, published in 1688.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Random House notes that the English sense translates German ''Wiegendrucke'' “cradle prints”.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1688 – ''Incunabula Typographiae'', a catalogue of early books.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1824 – the earliest stages of anything.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1861 – books printed before 1501.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1889 – ''incunabular''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Books printed from movable type in the earliest stage of [[printing]], before 1501.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The earliest stages or first traces of anything.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+ # The early works of a writer; [[juvenilia]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[incunabular]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[incunabulum]]

+ * [[cradle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}