caudex Latin · revision 3086

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkau̯.dɛks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaːu̯.deks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''caudex''' ''m'' (genitive caudicis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The later form ''cōdex'' is used mainly for “book”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan thinks it cannot be a recent derivative of [[cudo|alt=cūdō]] “to beat” and takes it from the stem of [[cauda]] “tail”, reconstructing [[itc-pro|*kaud-ek-]], from [[ine-pro|*keh₂u-d-|t=cleft, split]].^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary and the OLD connect it with ''cūdō'', both from a root meaning “to beat, hew”, so that it was first “what is hewn”.^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) Lewis and Short call it doubtful.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards, who has its derivative ''caudicalis''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant the [[m|en|trunk]] or stem of a tree, as Virgil's cut trunks from which an olive root is pushed out,^(OLD 2012) and Terence used it as an insult, “blockhead”.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913) Wooden tablets for writing were cut from it, so it came to mean a book of tablets, a notebook or account book, as when Cato had the book with his speech brought out.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It was also the cognomen of Appius Claudius Caudex, consul in 264 BC, who according to Seneca was the first to persuade the Romans to take to ships.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In the form ''codex'' it came to mean a book and a code of laws, and English ''code'' came from it through Old French about 1300.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses its derivative ''caudicalis''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 264 BC – Appius Claudius Caudex is consul.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for a book of tablets.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it as an insult.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for a tree trunk.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English ''code'' is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|trunk]] of a tree, a stump.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(as an insult)'' A blockhead.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A book of wooden tablets; a notebook, account book.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[caudeus]]

+ * [[caudica]]

+ * [[caudicālis]]

+ * [[caudicārius]]

+ * [[caudiceus]]

+ * [[cōdicillus]]

+ * [[excōdicō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cauda]]

+ * [[cōdex]]

+ * [[en|code]]

+ * [[en|codex]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}