pelta Latin · revision 34545

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 100–24 BC, Nepos|origins=grc πέλτη}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈpɛɫ.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛl.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pelta''' ''f'' (genitive peltae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|πέλτη|tr=péltē|t=light shield]].^(OLD 2012)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Nepos,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it in his life of Iphicrates for a small light shield shaped like a half-moon.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lewis and Short describe it as a shield first used by the Thracians and other foreign peoples.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Livy uses it, and in Virgil and Ovid it is the shield of the Amazons.^(Conte 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Servius explains it as a very short shield in the shape of a half-moon, and Nonius calls ''peltae'' the shields of the Amazons.^(TLL) The Vulgate has it in Chronicles.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Medieval writers in Britain use it for a light shield or buckler, from Gildas and Aldhelm on, and describe it as crescent-shaped, round, leaf-shaped, waisted or square.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it in his life of Iphicrates.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil gives it to the Amazons.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Chronicles.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 510–570 AD – Gildas uses it for the shields of armed bands.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small, light [[m|en|shield]], often shaped like a half-moon, of Thracian origin; the shield of the [[m|en|Amazon|alt=Amazons]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A light shield or [[m|en|buckler]] of various shapes.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[peltātus]]

+ * [[peltifer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scūtum]]

+ * [[clipeus]]

+ * [[parma]]

+ * [[caetra]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes the shields: the ''scutum'' was a large shield covering the whole body, the ''clipeus'' and ''parma'' smaller round ones, the ''pelta'' a small half-moon shield, and the ''caetra'' a small leather one.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}