destillatio Latin · revision 35885

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Celsus (14–37 AD)|origins=la stīllō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēstīllātiō''' ''f'' (genitive dēstīllātiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|dēstillō|-tiō|t1=to drip down]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) That verb is formed from [[m|la|dē-|t=down]] and [[m|la|stīllō|t=to drip]],^(OLD 2012) which is made from [[m|la|stīlla|t=a drop]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The spelling ⟨dist-⟩ is frequent.^(TLL)^(MLW)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first author is Celsus,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it as a medical term for a [[m|en|catarrh]], noting the Greek name for it, and lists it with colds among the ailments brought on by changes between cold and heat.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Seneca, Scribonius Largus and Pliny the Elder it is the name of a running discharge from the head, the chest, the throat or the stomach;^(TLL) Seneca says that a single catarrh produces a cough, but a constant and long-standing one consumption.^(TLL) A graffito at Pompeii reads ''destillātiō mē tenet'', “I have a catarrh”.^(TLL) Suetonius and Ammianus use it with the liver, which L&S takes as an abscess.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) L&S also gives the general sense “a dripping down”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In medieval Latin the general sense of dripping, running or flowing returns beside catarrh, and the word gains an alchemical and pharmaceutical sense, [[m|en|distillation]], and by metonymy “eaves, gutter” and “distillate”.^(MLW) British writers use it for the dripping of water or of torches and, in alchemy, for distilling, as of making ''aqua vītae'' from strong wine in an [[m|en|alembic]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it for catarrh.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus prescribes a lozenge for catarrh of the chest.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it often of catarrhs.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1170/1182 – A Cologne charter uses it for the drip from a roof, the eaves.^(MLW)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(medicine)'' A [[m|en|rheum]], [[m|en|catarrh]], a running discharge.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A dripping down.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, alchemy)'' [[m|en|distillation|alt=Distillation]]; a distillate.^(MLW)^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The [[m|en|eaves]] or gutter of a roof.^(MLW)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}