argilla Latin · revision 34482

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=grc ἄργιλλος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [arˈɡiːl.la], [arˈɡɪl.la]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [arˈd͡ʒil.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''argī̆lla''' ''f'' (genitive argī̆llae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The spelling ''argila'' occurs in Novatian and Venantius Fortunatus.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ἄργιλλος|tr=árgillos|t=white clay, potter's clay]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) Lewis and Short connect the Greek word with [[m|grc|ἀργής|tr=argḗs|t=white]];^(Lewis & Short 1879) Wiktionary suggests [[m|grc|ἀργός|tr=argós]] or a Pre-Greek source.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Isidore of Seville said it was named after Argos, where vessels were first made from it.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Cato,^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)^(Conte 2010) as the clay that potters use.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Varro and Columella name it among kinds of earth, and Columella notes that some call the potter's chalk ''argilla''.^(TLL) Virgil has ''tenuis argilla'', thin clay, where olive groves thrive,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) and Caesar mentions sling bullets of heated clay.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Cicero calls an opponent a little man made of clay and mud, and Horace speaks of modelling anything in wet clay.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Medieval writers in Britain use it of clay and loam for building, of potter's clay and of fuller's earth, and English accounts spell it ''arcillum'' or ''arsillum''.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''argilla'' and Spanish ''arcilla'',^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) and English borrowed it as ''argil''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in his work on farming.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar mentions sling bullets of clay.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of thin clay where olives grow.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore derives the name from Argos.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # White clay, potter's [[m|en|clay]], [[m|en|argil]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Clay or [[m|en|loam]] for building; [[m|en|fuller's earth]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[argillāceus]]

+ * [[argillōsus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}