fabella Latin · revision 33447

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la for}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fābella''' ''f'' (genitive fābellae); first declension^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a diminutive, [[af|la|fābula|-ella|t1=story, tale]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) De Vaan places that noun with [[m|la|for|t=to speak]], from [[itc-pro|*fā-þlo-|t=story]] and the root [[ine-pro|*bheh₂-|t=to speak]]; cognate with [[grc|φημί|tr=phēmí|t=I say]].^(de Vaan 2008) Priscian cites it as an example of the doubled ⟨l⟩ that diminutives in ⟨-la⟩ keep.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who writes ''adfertur dē Sīlēnō fābella quaedam'', “a little story is told about Silenus”.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a short story or anecdote,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Cicero says that philosophy has no room for such tales.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In particular it is a fable: Phaedrus calls his stories ''fābellae'' and has Aesop tell one,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Quintilian speaks of the fables of Aesop,^(Georges 1913) and Horace of telling a story to a deaf ass.^(Georges 1913) Phaedrus sets ''fābellae'' beside ''fābulae'', plays,^(Georges 1913) and Cicero uses it of a short play, saying that Terence's plays were thought to be written by Gaius Laelius.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Seneca writes ''in fābellam excessī'', “I have strayed into a story”.^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913) In Medieval Latin it kept the sense of a tale or anecdote,^(DMLBS) and it survives in [[m|it|favella]].^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a story and of a play.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a story told to a deaf ass.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it of his fables.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian speaks of the fables of Aesop.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – British writers use it of tales and anecdotes.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short [[m|en|story]], [[m|en|tale]], [[m|en|anecdote]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|fable]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A short [[m|en|play]], drama.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fābellor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fābula]]

+ * [[for]]

+ * [[fāma]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''fābella'' “little bean”, a diminutive of [[faba]], appears in the ''Ruodlieb'' (middle of the 11th century);^(Köbler 2010) as a modern anatomical term it names a small bone behind the knee, after its bean-like shape.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}