tessera Latin · revision 33695

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=grc τέσσαρες}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈtɛs.sɛ.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈtɛs.se.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tessera''' ''f'' (genitive tesserae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|τέσσαρες|tr=téssares|t=four]],^(Wiktionary) Lewis & Short comparing the Ionic form [[m|grc|τέσσερες|tr=tésseres]], so that the word first meant a square piece.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The OLD suggests instead that it is shortened from a Greek word for “four-cornered”, equal to [[m|grc|τετράγωνος|tr=tetrágōnos|t=square]],^(OLD 2012) and Köbler also considers such a short form.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has the ''tessera hospitalis'', the token of guest-friendship: ''ad eum hospitalem hanc tesseram mecum fero'', “I bring this token of hospitality with me to him”.^(OLD 2012) In another play, breaking the token means ending the friendship.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its basic sense is a small square or cubical block, as in the mosaic pavements of Vitruvius.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Most often it is a die, marked on all six sides, unlike the ''tālus'' marked on four:^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Terence compares human life to a game of dice, and Cicero and Livy speak of throwing them.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Many uses come from its being a square token or voucher.^(OLD 2012) The guest-token was divided between friends so that they or their descendants could recognise each other by fitting the pieces together.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Under the Empire a ''tessera'' was a ticket for a public distribution of grain or money, or for admission to a show, as in Martial.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) In the army it was the small tablet carrying the watchword and orders of the day, and so the watchword itself, in Livy, Virgil and the ''Bellum Hispaniense''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Church Latin has it as a token or ticket.^(Stelten 1995) British medieval writers use it for a die, for a chessman or other gaming piece, and for chance and fate.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of the token of guest-friendship.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence, of dice.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius, of square pieces in pavements.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial, of a ticket of admission.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – A die or a chessman.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small square or cubical block, as in a [[m|en|mosaic]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|die]] marked on all six sides.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|token]] or voucher:^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''tessera hospitalis'', a token divided between [[m|en|guest-friend|alt=guest-friends]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) a [[m|en|ticket]] for a distribution of grain or money or for admission;^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Wiktionary) an identifying stamp.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(military)'' A tablet carrying the [[m|en|watchword]] and orders; the watchword itself.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A chessman or other gaming piece.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contessero]]

+ * [[tessella]]

+ * [[tesserārius]]

+ * [[tesserātus]]

+ * [[tesserula]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}