caestus Latin · revision 32919

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *keh₂id-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''caestus''' ''m'' (genitive caestūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''cestus'', as in Varro, and Plautus has a form ''cestum''; the ablative plural is ''cestīs'' in Varro and ''caestīs'' in Hyginus.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The OLD and Wiktionary derive it from [[caedo|alt=caedō]] “to strike, cut”; the TLL calls its origin uncertain, perhaps from that verb.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|caedō]] to [[itc-pro|*kaid-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*keh₂id-|t=to cut, hew]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's earliest source is a passage of Plautus' ''Bacchides'' that he treats as not genuine,^(Köbler 2010) where the OLD reads the form ''cestum''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a strip of leather, especially one weighted with lead or iron and bound round the hands and arms of boxers, a boxing glove, and by extension boxing itself.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero and Virgil use it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The grammarian Probus distinguishes it from ''cestus'', the girdle of Venus, in spelling and declension.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – A passage of Plautus has the form ''cestum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the word.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A leather strap weighted with lead or iron, worn by boxers; a [[m|en|boxing glove]], [[m|en|cestus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|boxing|alt=Boxing]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[caedo|alt=caedō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is a separate word from ''cestus'' “girdle”, especially the love-inspiring girdle of Venus, which comes from Greek ''kestos'' “stitched, embroidered” and passed into English in the 1570s.^(Etymonline)^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}