fidelia Latin · revision 36417

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fidēlia''' ''f'' (genitive fidēliae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) The OLD and the TLL compare [[grc|πίθος|tr=píthos|t=large wine jar]], Attic [[m|grc|φιδάκνη|tr=phidáknē]] and [[non|biða|t=milk pail]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Pokorny derives it from [[ine-pro|*bʰidʰ-|t=vessel]], through a form [[m|la|*fidesliā]], and thinks the root may belong to [[m|ine-pro|*bʰeidʰ-|t=to bind, plait]], since he takes [[m|la|fiscus|t=wicker basket]] to be related.^(Pokorny 1959)^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary points out that the irregular Greek forms and the narrow, noun-only root could rather point to a substrate word or a [[m|en|wanderwort]], as is usual for names of Neolithic objects,^(Wiktionary) and de Vaan calls the link with the basket word gratuitous.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first,^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) in the ''Aulularia'', in a pun on the goddess [[m|la|fidēs#1|alt=Fides]], who is promised a pot full of honeyed wine.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was an earthenware or glass [[m|en|jar]] for keeping food and drink: Columella has pitched and glass ones for preserves, and Persius has white jars swelling with wine and an unbaked pot of green clay that rings false when struck.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Plasterers kept their whitewash in it, hence the proverb ''duo parietes de eadem fidelia dealbare'', to whitewash two walls from the same pot, that is, to gain two ends by one action, in a letter of Curius to Cicero.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) The Old Latin Bible uses it for the jar of meal that will not fail, where the Vulgate has ''hydria''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the ''Aulularia''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – A letter of Curius in Cicero's correspondence has the whitewash proverb.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses it for storage jars.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of wine jars.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * after 220 AD – The Old Latin Bible uses it for a jar of meal.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An earthenware [[m|en|pot]] or jar, a large [[m|en|pail]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A pail of [[m|en|whitewash]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''De eadem fidelia duos parietes dealbare'' (“to whitewash two walls from the same pot”) is the Latin counterpart of “to kill two birds with one stone”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}