mapalia Latin · revision 33516

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=234–149 BC, Cato}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mapālia''' ''n pl'' (genitive mapāliōrum); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Also spelled ''mappālia''.^(TLL)

+ The OLD also records the singular.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|xpu|-]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) The OLD compares a Hebrew word meaning “ruin”.^(OLD 2012) The TLL notes that it is disputed whether it is the same word as [[m|la|māgālia|t=huts]] or a Roman reshaping of that word after [[m|la|mappa|t=napkin, cloth]], with which some spellings in ⟨mapp-⟩ agree;^(TLL) Müller-Graupa thought it was connected with that noun from the start.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cato is the first to use it:^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) ''mapālia vocantur ubi habitant, ea quasi cohortēs rotundae sunt'', “the places where they live are called mapalia; they are like round enclosures”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It names the huts of nomadic Africans.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Festus explains it as Punic huts, and Sallust describes the dwellings of the country Numidians, which they call by this name, as long buildings with curved sides roofed like the keels of ships.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Virgil, Silius Italicus and Martial use it in verse; it is usually plural; the singular appears in Ausonius, and Valerius Flaccus uses it collectively.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively, Seneca uses it as a term of abuse for disorderly conduct, “a mere shambles”, and in Petronius it seems to mean a disreputable house.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato, of the dwellings of African nomads.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust describes the huts of the Numidians.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, in the ''Georgics''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, figuratively, of disorder.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|hut|alt=huts]] or [[m|en|cottage|alt=cottages]] of nomadic Africans.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Disorder, a [[m|en|shambles]] (as a term of abuse); useless things, follies.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A house of ill repute (Petronius).^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[māgālia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}