ancilla Latin · revision 30889

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus|origins=la anculus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [aŋˈkɪl.la]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [an̠ʲˈt͡ʃil.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ancilla''' ''f'' (genitive ancillae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a diminutive of ⟨ancula⟩, the feminine of [[m|la|anculus|t=servant]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan explains that ⟨anculus⟩ survived only in religious language and glosses; it was felt as a diminutive ⟨anc-ulus⟩, and a new diminutive gave ⟨ancilla⟩, the usual feminine counterpart of [[m|la|servus|t=slave]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan, Köbler and Lewis and Short give Livius Andronicus as its first author.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a female slave or servant, a maid, the ordinary feminine of ''servus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Seneca uses it of things, as virtue, the highest mistress, handed over as a maid to pleasure, and Sallust as an insult to a man: Fufidius, a vile handmaid.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “handmaid, maidservant”, and in Medieval Latin ''ancilla Deī'', “handmaid of God”, is a nun.^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust as an insult to a man.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of virtue as a handmaid.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|maidservant]], female slave, [[m|en|handmaid]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(figuratively)'' A handmaid, servant (of a thing); ''(as an insult to a man)'' a slave-girl.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' ''ancilla Deī'': a [[m|en|nun]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ancillāris]]

+ * [[ancillula]]

+ * [[ancillāriolus]]

+ * [[ancillor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ancillātus]]

+ * [[ancula]]

+ * [[anculus]]

+ * [[servus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein puts ''ancilla'' with [[servus]], [[famulus]] and [[mancipium]], words for a servant who is not free, as opposed to [[minister]], one who serves but may be free, Pliny the Younger mentions ''ancillae'' who were called ''ministrae''.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}