calcar Latin · revision 32657

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la calx}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkaɫ.kar]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkal.kar]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''calcar''' ''n'' (genitive calcāris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Köbler also records the form ''carcar''.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|calx|t=heel]], as the TLL and the OLD connect it, and Priscian derives it from that noun.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan calls the origin of [[m|la|calx]] unclear: a link with [[lt|kulkšnìs|t=ankle]] is doubtful at best, and some think it non-Indo-European, perhaps Etruscan.^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore explains that spurs are so called because they are tied to a man's heel to urge on horses.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus.^(Köbler 2010) In the OLD's earliest quotation Plautus threatens to drive someone up a slope with a four-footed spur.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a spur worn on the heel, and Lewis & Short note that it is frequent in figurative use.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Phrases are ⟨calcar admovēre⟩, to apply the spur, as of a wind in Varro, and ⟨addere calcāria sponte currentī⟩, to spur a willing horse.^(OLD 2012) Columella uses it of the spur of a cock.^(OLD 2012) Niermeyer records the ram of a warship as a medieval sense.^(Niermeyer 1976) Church Latin glosses it spur.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a four-footed spur.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of a wind applying the spur.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella of a cock's spurs.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|spur]]; figuratively, a stimulus, [[m|en|incentive]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # The spur of a cock.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The [[m|en|ram]] of a warship.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[calx]]

+ * [[calco|alt=calcō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}