machaera Latin · revision 34260

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=grc μάχαιρα}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''machaera''' ''f'' (genitive machaerae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''macchaera'';^(OLD 2012) the manuscripts of Plautus mostly write ''machera'', and ''macera'' also occurs.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|μάχαιρα|tr=mákhaira|t=large knife; short sword]].^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) In Homer the Greek word means a large knife or butcher's knife, and later also a short sword or dagger.^(Beekes 2010) Beekes notes that it was traditionally connected with [[m|grc|μάχομαι|tr=mákhomai|t=to fight]], which others find implausible, and that a Semitic etymology has been proposed with reservations; comparing [[m|grc|μάγειρος|tr=mágeiros|t=cook]], he takes it to be a Pre-Greek word.^(Beekes 2010) Macrobius remarks that the early Romans used the Greek word for the sword.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler and the TLL record it first in Ennius,^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) whose ''Annales'' have ''succincti corda machaeris'', “their hearts girt with swords”.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Plautus uses it often of a soldier's sword.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The OLD defines it as a single-edged sword.^(OLD 2012) Georges describes it as a slaughtering or hunting knife and a sword shaped like one, and the TLL notes that it sometimes means a knife rather than a sword.^(Georges 1913)^(TLL) In Plautus a cook tells a soldier that his ''machaera'' is longer than the kitchen knife, and the word is also used jokingly for the penis in the ''Pseudolus''.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) Seneca quotes a soldier who says he was run through not just with a club but with a ''machaera'', and Tertullian speaks of the laws with their swords and gibbets.^(TLL) Gellius lists it among the names of weapons, and Isidore of Seville defines it as a long sword sharpened on one side.^(TLL) In the early Latin Bible translations it renders the Greek word throughout, where the Vulgate has [[gladius]].^(TLL) Medieval writers in Britain use it for a sword or dagger, figuratively for the sword of God's word, and for a knife or hatchet.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in the ''Annales''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it often of a soldier's sword.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca quotes a soldier speaking of being run through with a ''machaera''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it as a long single-edged sword.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – British writers use it of a sword or dagger, and of a knife or hatchet.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A single-edged [[m|en|sword]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A large [[m|en|knife]], a butcher's or hunting knife.^(Georges 1913)^(TLL)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A knife, short sword.^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A sword or [[m|en|dagger]]; figuratively, the sword of God's word.^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A knife, [[m|en|hatchet]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Juvenal has ''Machaera'' as the name of an auctioneer.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}