gutta Latin · revision 32405

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɡʊt.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈɡut.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gutta''' ''f'' (genitive guttae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Lucretius has the archaic genitive ''guttāī''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+ A neuter ''guttum'' is also recorded.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary mentions a possible link with [[xcl|կաթն|tr=katʻn|t=milk]] or with [[ine-pro|*ǵʰewd-|t=to pour]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first, in the ''Casina'': “may the gods curse me if I have put a drop of wine in my mouth today”.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a drop of liquid, as Accius' drops of tears washing away blood, and a solidified drop of gum, as myrrh in Ovid.^(OLD 2012) In negative phrases it is the smallest quantity of anything.^(OLD 2012) It is also a spot or speck of colour, as on the bodies of bees in Virgil, and in architecture one of the small cones under a Doric triglyph, in Vitruvius.^(OLD 2012) In Medieval Latin it is the gout, gutta cadūca epilepsy, and gutta ciata sciatica.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a drop of wine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of drops of tears.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of the guttae of the Doric order.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – English [[m|en|gout]] is borrowed through French from its medieval sense.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|drop]] of liquid; a teardrop; a solidified drop of gum.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The smallest quantity, a drop.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A spot or [[m|en|speck]] of colour, as on an animal or a stone.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(architecture)'' A small cone under a [[m|en|triglyph]] of the Doric order.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|gout]]; gutta cadūca, [[m|en|epilepsy]].^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[guttātim]]

+ * [[guttātus]]

+ * [[guttula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|gout]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes it from [[stilla]]: gutta is a natural drop and stresses smallness, as in [[guttatim|alt=guttātim]], “drop by drop”, while stilla is a measured drop and stresses wetness.^(Döderlein 1874) Medieval Latin also had a gutta, gotta, “a gutter, ditch”, from gutta mixed up with a Germanic word.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}