maceria Latin · revision 34313

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''māceria''' ''f'' (genitive māceriae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[der|la|mācerō|t=to soak, soften]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) de Vaan takes the words to presuppose an adjective meaning “soaked” or “kneaded”, so that the wall was named for its kneaded material, clay.^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis and Short likewise explain it as originally a wall of soft clay.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The meaning would fit [[ine-pro|*mh2ǵ-|t=to knead]], but the Latin /k/ does not correspond to it.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler compares a root meaning “to knead, squeeze”.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ De Vaan lists [[grc|μάσσω|tr=mássō|t=to knead]] and [[goh|mahhōn|t=to make]] among the cognates of [[m|la|mācerō]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler find it first in Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Truculentus'' asks what is the matter with the wall in the garden that grows a brick shorter every night.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It means a wall of brick or stone, especially one round a garden.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Terence and Cato use it for garden and farm walls, Cato with instructions for building one.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Caesar has a ditch and a wall six feet high, and Livy a wall by the side of a path.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) A by-form ''māceriēs'' appears in Varro and Prudentius.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

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+ Medieval writers in Britain use it for walls of buildings, of enclosures and of towns, and figuratively.^(DMLBS) Du Cange records a medieval ''maceria'' meaning building timber, but explains it as an error for [[māteria]].^(Du Cange 1883)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a garden wall.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato gives instructions for building one.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar describes a wall six feet high.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses the by-form ''māceriēs''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius also has ''māceriēs''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|wall]] of brick or stone, especially one enclosing a [[m|en|garden]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A wall of a building, an [[m|en|enclosure]] or a town.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[māceriātus]]

+ * [[māceriola]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ Conte warns that the word does not mean what Italian ''maceria'' does: the Italian word keeps the Latin sense only in special uses.^(Conte 2010) Döderlein sets it, the wall of an enclosure marking a boundary and keeping out thieves, such as a garden or vineyard wall, against [[mūrus]], any wall by its form, [[pariēs]], the wall of a building, and [[moenia]], the walls of a city.^(Döderlein 1874)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}