cento Latin · revision 34002

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *k(e)ntH-n-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkɛn.toː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈt͡ʃɛn.to]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''centō''' ''m'' (genitive centōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is perhaps [[inh|itc-pro|*k(e)nt-n-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*k(e)ntH-n-]], as de Vaan tentatively reconstructs it, if [[sa|कन्था|tr=kanthā-|t=rag, patched cloth]] is cognate;^(de Vaan 2008) the OLD also compares the Sanskrit word.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan warns that the two may well be unrelated, and that other words adduced, such as [[goh|hadara|t=rags]], lack the nasal.^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis & Short and the TLL compare [[grc|κέντρων|tr=kéntrōn]],^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) and Wiktionary derives it from [[m|grc|κέντρον|tr=kéntron]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) who has the proverbial ''centōnēs sarcīre alicui'', "to patch rags for someone", that is, to deceive him with lies.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a cloth or garment made of pieces sewn together, a patchwork, quilt, blanket or curtain of old garments.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cato, Lucilius, Sisenna and Caesar use it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of a cap worn under the helmet.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Tertullian and Isidore of Seville use it of a poem patched together from the lines of another poem, as in the ''Cento Nuptialis'' of Ausonius.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in southern Italian ''centone'' and Sardinian ''bentone''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in a proverb about patching rags.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian of a patchwork poem.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus of a cap under the helmet.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|patchwork]] cloth; a [[m|en|quilt]], blanket or curtain made of old garments sewn together.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A cap worn under the [[m|en|helmet]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(proverbial)'' ''centōnēs sarcīre alicui'', to deceive someone with lies.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A poem made up of lines from another poem, a [[m|en|cento]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[centōnārius]]

+ * [[centunculus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Centō'' is also a Roman cognomen, found in Cicero,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and borne by the consul Gaius Claudius Centho.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}