pistrinum Latin · revision 34257

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la pīnsō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pistrīnum''' ''n'' (genitive pistrīnī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The manuscripts often have ''pristrinum'', several times in Plautus and in Catullus.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The OLD derives it [[der|la|pīnsō|t=to pound, crush]] with the suffix ⟨-trīnum⟩;^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary and the TLL derive it from [[m|la|pistor|t=pounder, miller, baker]] with ⟨-īnum⟩.^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of the verb, which goes back to [[itc-pro|*pins-|t=to grind]] and [[ine-pro|*pi-n-s-|t=to grind]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognates of the verb include [[sa|पिनष्टि|tr=pináṣṭi|t=crushes, grinds]], [[grc|πτίσσω|tr=ptíssō|t=to winnow grain]] and [[lt|paisýti|t=to remove the beards of chaff]].^(de Vaan 2008) Varro connected it with the pestle, [[pīlum]], with which spelt was pounded, and Isidore of Seville explained it as if from ⟨pilistrinum⟩, because grain was pounded with a pestle.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who calls a slave ''pistrinorum civitas'', “citizen of the mills”, and has a character say he would rather spend his life in the quarries or in the mill.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a place where grain was pounded, later a mill usually worked by horses or donkeys, where bread was also baked.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Lazy or bad slaves were sent there as a punishment, so Terence threatens ''te in pistrinum dedam'', “I'll hand you over to the mill”, and calls a man ''pistrino dignus'', “fit for the mill”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Plautus mentions pigs fattened in the mills on the bran.^(Georges 1913) Cicero turns it into a figure of drudgery: an orator should not be pushed into the law courts as into a mill, and in ''De oratore'' one speaker tells another ''tibi mecum in eodem est pistrino vivendum'', “you must live with me in the same mill”.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Suetonius and Apuleius use ''pistrinum exercere'' for running a bakery.^(Georges 1913) In medieval Latin it means a bakery or bakehouse.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of the mill as a place of punishment for slaves.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence threatens a slave with the mill.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively of drudgery.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – It means a bakery or bakehouse.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|mill]] for pounding or grinding grain; a [[m|en|bakery]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The mill as a place of punishment for slaves; figuratively, [[m|en|drudgery]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

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

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pistrīnālis]]

+ * [[pistrīnārius]]

+ * [[pistrīnensis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pistor]]

+ * [[pīlum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}