arca Latin · revision 31759

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₂erk-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈar.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈar.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''arca''' ''f'' (genitive arcae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Inscriptions also spell it ''arka''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*arkā|t=container]], derived from the root of [[arceō|t=to contain, keep off]], [[ine-pro|*h₂erk-|alt=*h2(o)r(ḱ)-|t=to hold]]; de Vaan thinks the noun may be of PIE date or an Italic formation on the verb's root.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The diminutive may be Proto-Italic, if [[xum|arçlataf|t=a sacrificial gift]] belongs here.^(de Vaan 2008) The root is also seen in [[hit|har(k)-|t=to hold]] and [[grc|ἀρκέω|tr=arkéō|t=to ward off]].^(de Vaan 2008) Servius explained ⟨arca⟩ and [[arx]] as secret places from which everyone is kept away.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) whose ''Bacchides'' has a slave saying that this horse will attack not the citadel but the money chest.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a chest or box, especially for money, and so a temple's or association's treasury, as Martial's coffers of Minerva, and one's money, as Cicero's “rely on our cash box”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It also means a coffin, or a box in which paupers' bodies were carried, and a cell for confining slaves, as in Cicero's ''Pro Milone''.^(OLD 2012) In Vitruvius it is a box or cage in machines, a cofferdam for building in water, and the frame of a roof opening.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin uses it for the Ark, both Noah's and the Ark of the Covenant.^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary) In medieval sources it is also the public treasury.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a money chest.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of cash and of slaves' cells.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of cofferdams.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Old English – Borrowed as ''earc'', the source of English [[m|en|ark]], mainly for Noah's ark.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|chest]], [[m|en|coffer]], box; a treasury; money.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A [[m|en|coffin]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A cell for confinement.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(engineering)'' A box or cage; a [[m|en|cofferdam]]; a frame.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' An [[m|en|ark]]: Noah's Ark; the Ark of the Covenant.^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The public treasury.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arcānus]]

+ * [[arcārius]]

+ * [[arcātūra]]

+ * [[arcella]]

+ * [[arcula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[arcānō]]

+ * [[arceō]]

+ * [[arx]]

+ * [[en|ark]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}