tigillum Latin · revision 36352

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la tīgnum}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tigillum''' ''n'' (genitive tigillī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|tīgnum|-illum|t1=beam, timber]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary compares [[m|la|sigillum]] beside [[m|la|sīgnum]].^(Wiktionary) De Vaan takes ⟨tīgnum⟩ to go back to [[itc-pro|*teg/k-no-|t=plank, timber]], probably from [[ine-pro|*(s)teg-no-|t=covering]], the root that also gave building words such as [[m|la|tēctum]] and [[m|la|tēgula]], rather than from [[m|ine-pro|*teḱ-no-|t=product]]; he explains the short /i/ of the diminutive by a raising of /e/ before a velar nasal that took place before vowels were reduced in non-initial syllables.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus;^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in the ''Aulularia'' someone is said to cry ruin ''dē suō tigillō fūmus sī qua exit forās'', if any smoke goes out of doors from his bit of wood.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a small piece of wood and, more often, a small beam or plank.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Catullus, Livy, Tibullus, Phaedrus and Juvenal use it of a little beam,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Livy names the ''tigillum sorōrium''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Aurelius Victor has ''sub tigillum mittī'', to be made to pass under a crossbeam.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In Late Latin alchemy it named a crucible or cupel, with reference to the Crucifixion.^(Wiktionary) British medieval writers, from Aldhelm on, used it for a small timber beam or rafter.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a bit of wood in a house.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a little beam.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy names the ''tigillum sorōrium''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of a beam.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small piece of [[m|en|wood]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A small [[m|en|beam]] or [[m|en|plank]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Late Latin, alchemy)'' A [[m|en|crucible]] or [[m|en|cupel]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|rafter]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tīgnum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}