cellula Latin · revision 36470

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=190–159 BC, Terence|origins=la cella}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkɛl.lʊ.ɫa]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈt͡ʃɛl.lu.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cellula''' ''f'' (genitive cellulae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|cella|-ula|t1=storeroom, small room]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) The origin of the base is uncertain: de Vaan thinks it may preserve an older ⟨cēla⟩ beside [[m|la|cēlō|t=to conceal]], or be a diminutive of the same root, and gives [[ine-pro|*ḱēl-|t=hiding]] with a question mark.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Terence has it first, for a slave's room:^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) ''quom in cellulam ad tē patris penum omnem congerēbam clanculum'', “when I secretly piled all my father's stores into your little room”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means a small room or cell: a slave's room, a mean or humble lodging, a porter's lodge, a prostitute's cubicle,^(OLD 2012) and in Columella hollowed cells like pigeon-holes.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The TLL notes the spelling ⟨cellola⟩ in late authors and inscriptions, such as a council at Orléans in 541 and Gregory of Tours.^(TLL)

+

+ In Christian and medieval Latin it was a monk's dwelling within a monastery, a small monastery, often so called out of humility, or the house of a group of monks;^(Niermeyer 1976) Gregory of Tours already calls a place ''cellula sānctī Maxentī'', today's Saint-Maixent.^(TLL) In Church Latin it also means a hut.^(Stelten 1995) New Latin used it for the biological cell.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for a slave's room.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses it of hollowed cells like pigeon-holes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it for a porter's lodge.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for humble dwellings.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours writes it ⟨cellola⟩ and names a monastery ''cellula''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small room, especially a [[m|en|slave]]'s room.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A mean or humble dwelling.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A porter's [[m|en|lodge]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A prostitute's [[m|en|cubicle]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A monk's [[m|en|cell]]; a small [[m|en|monastery]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A [[m|en|hut]].^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(New Latin, biology)'' A cell.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cellulanus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cella]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}