membrana Latin · revision 33915

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=ine-pro *mēms-ro-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [mɛmˈbraː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [memˈbraː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''membrāna''' ''f'' (genitive membrānae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|membrum|-āna|t1=limb, part of the body]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) An ancient commentator on Lucan and Isidore explained the name from its covering the limbs.^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|membrum]] to [[itc-pro|*memsro-]] and [[ine-pro|*mēms-ro-|t=body part, meaty part]], from a word for "meat";^(de Vaan 2008) Latin, Celtic and Slavic share the derived sense "body part, membrane".^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan finds it first in Varro,^(de Vaan 2008) who uses it of the thin skin inside a pomegranate.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a thin skin in the body: Cicero says nature clothed the eyes with very thin membranes,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Celsus speaks of the membrane of the brain,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Lucretius compares images that fly off things to membranes torn from their surface.^(OLD 2012) It is used of the cast skin of a snake in Ovid,^(OLD 2012) of a bladder in Pliny the Elder, of the wings of insects,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and figuratively of a thin veneer, as when Seneca speaks of the evil that lies under the thin skin of dignity.^(OLD 2012) Of plants it is a thin skin, as in Varro.^(OLD 2012) Above all it is skin prepared for writing, [[m|en|parchment]]: Catullus has the red straps of a parchment roll, and Tibullus' corpus a yellow parchment cover for a book.^(OLD 2012) Pliny the Elder also uses it of a thin slice.^(OLD 2012) In Medieval Latin it is a charter,^(Niermeyer 1976) and Stelten gives "membrane, parchment, skin".^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of a thin skin in a pomegranate.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of skins torn from the surface of things.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the membranes of the eyes.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of parchment.^(OLD 2012)

+ * early 15th century – [[m|en|membrane]] appears in English as a term of anatomy.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|membrane]] in the body; the cast skin of a snake, a slough; a bladder.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A thin covering, [[m|en|veneer]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A thin skin of a plant.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Skin prepared for writing, [[m|en|parchment]]; a parchment cover for a book.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A thin slice.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|charter]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[membrānāceus]]

+ * [[membrānārius]]

+ * [[membrāneus]]

+ * [[membrānula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[membrum]]

+ * [[en|membrane]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}