novacula Latin · revision 34521

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *ksneu-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [nɔˈwaː.kʊ.ɫa]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''novācula''' ''f'' (genitive novāculae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*(ks)nowātlo-]].^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan explains it as an instrument noun ⟨*sneu̯āklo-⟩, from older ⟨*ksneu̯āklo-⟩, built on a verb stem ⟨*(ks)neu̯ā-⟩, itself derived from [[ine-pro|*ksneu-|t=to scrape smooth, sharpen]].^(de Vaan 2008) He takes the nasal present ⟨*ks-n-u-⟩ to belong to [[m|ine-pro|*kseu-|t=to scrape, make smooth]], the root of [[saucius]], and both perhaps to a root [[m|ine-pro|*kes-|t=to scratch]].^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD likewise derives it from a verb ⟨*novō⟩ with the suffix [[m|la|-cula]], tracing the verb to the same Indo-European base,^(OLD 2012) and Köbler gives the same root;^(Köbler 2010) Lewis and Short connected it with [[novo|alt=novō]] “renew”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Cognate with [[sa|क्ष्णोत्र|tr=kṣṇótra-|t=whetstone]] and [[sa|क्षुर|tr=kṣurá-|t=razor, sharp knife]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan records it from Cicero on;^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) the ''De divinatione'' tells of a whetstone that could be cut with a razor (''cotem novacula posse praecidi'').^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its usual sense is a razor, used for shaving bald patches in Celsus, and in Martial and Petronius, whose characters infer from a razor that a man is a barber.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Tacitus and Suetonius mention throats cut with a razor.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) More generally it is a sharp knife: Columella has the skin of turnips peeled with one, and Pliny the Elder amber knives.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny also gives it as the name of an unknown fish.^(OLD 2012) In Ecclesiastical Latin it means a sharp knife or razor.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero's ''De divinatione'' tells of a whetstone cut with a razor.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy also uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses it of peeling turnips.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it as the name of a fish.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a throat cut with a razor.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|razor]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A sharp [[m|en|knife]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # An unknown [[m|en|fish]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[saucius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}