caespes Latin · revision 31822

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkae̯s.pɛs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈt͡ʃɛs.pes]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''caespes''' ''m'' (genitive caespitis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Statius and Apuleius have the spelling ''cespes''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The etymology is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) De Vaan suggests that its first meaning was “a piece cut off”, and a link with [[caedō|t=to cut]] has often been proposed.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) The OLD compares [[osc|kaispatar|t=let it be cut]], but de Vaan finds that form too uncertain in form and meaning to use; the TLL also mentions a comparison with [[got|𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐍃|tr=haifsts|t=strife]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cicero,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who argues that sods and clods are not weapons.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a sod or turf cut from the ground, and turf as a building material, as Virgil's roof of a poor hut heaped with turf;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Festus defines it as earth cut like a brick with its grass.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It also means the grassy top layer of the soil, earth, and contemptuously a spadeful of earth.^(OLD 2012) Turf was used for ramparts and altars, and for the mound over a grave.^(OLD 2012) Ovid uses it of grass, and Pliny the Elder of a knot on the bark of a vine.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “turf, sod”.^(Stelten 1995) In Medieval Latin a sod of turf was the token handed over in the act of seisin, and the word also meant a piece of land, a region or territory.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of sods and clods.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a turf roof.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a turf rampart.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – a sod used in investiture; a piece of land.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|sod]] or [[m|en|turf]] cut from the ground; turf as building material.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Grassy ground; earth, soil.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A turf [[m|en|rampart]]; a turf [[m|en|altar]]; a grave mound.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Grass; a knot on a vine's bark.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A sod used as a token of [[m|en|seisin]]; a piece of land; a region.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}