cautes Latin · revision 32755

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=ine-pro *ḱe/oh₃-t-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cautēs''' ''f'' (genitive cautis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''cōtēs'', the form used until Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Tibullus has the nominative ''cautis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*kōti-|t=sharp point, rock]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ḱe/oh₃-t-|t=sharpening]], from the same stem as [[cos|alt=cōs]] “whetstone”; de Vaan finds plausible Ernout and Meillet's view that ⟨cōtēs⟩ was the old plural of that noun, “sharp points, promontories”, and calls ⟨au⟩ a hypercorrect spelling.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) He compares [[ang|hān|t=whetstone]].^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore derived it from [[caveo|alt=caveō]] “to beware”.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Ennius, in the spelling ⟨cōtēs⟩.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Its first quotation in the OLD is in Caesar, of ships left by the tide that had no fear of rocks and reefs.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is usually in the plural a rock, cliff, crag or reef, and stands for hard-heartedness: in Virgil a face is no more moved than hard flint or a crag of Marpessus.^(OLD 2012) Columella uses it of loose stones, the stones of Deucalion.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein says it is a rough, pointed rock that threatens danger, smaller than [[scopulus]] and hidden in the water, and so treacherous.^(Döderlein 1874) Köbler dates it from Virgil.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of rocks and reefs.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, of a hard heart.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella of Deucalion's stones.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A rough, pointed [[m|en|rock]], [[m|en|crag]], cliff or [[m|en|reef]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A detached piece of rock, a stone.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cos|alt=cōs]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Cautēs'' is also the name of a torch-bearing figure shown beside Mithras in Mithraic images, with Cautopates.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}