scalprum Latin · revision 36775

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=la scalpō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scalprum''' ''n'' (genitive scalprī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ A masculine form ''scalper'', genitive ''scalprī'', is certain in Celsus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|scalpō|t=to scratch, carve]], with the suffix of instrument nouns.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD explains it as probably dissimilated from an older ⟨*scalplom⟩, with the suffix [[m|la|-lum]];^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary gives the suffix as [[m|la|-rum]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The verb itself has no certain etymology: de Vaan tentatively connects it with [[ine-pro|*sk(e)lp-|t=to split off]],^(de Vaan 2008) and Köbler and Pokorny with a root [[m|ine-pro|*skelp-|t=to cut, peel, scratch]].^(Köbler 2010)^(Pokorny 1959)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first use is in Cato's treatise on farming,^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) where a strip of bark is taken from a tree with the ''scalprum'' in budding.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it was a general name for a sharp tool for scraping, paring or cutting away, and its exact shape depended on the trade.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Farmers used it in budding and pruning, and Columella gives the name to the forward point of the vine-dresser's billhook;^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) for cobblers it was a paring knife (an inscription from Pompeii and Horace),^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) for surgeons a chisel for cutting out bone (Lucilius, Celsus),^(OLD 2012) and for sculptors and carpenters a chisel, as in Livy and Seneca.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) In Tacitus and Suetonius the ''scalprum librārium'' is a penknife, probably for sharpening reed pens.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Medieval glossaries render it as a small knife, a scraper or a borer, and British writers also used it for an engraving tool and for scraping parchment.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in grafting.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius has the surgical sense.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a cobbler's tool.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has a carpenter's chisel (''fabrile scalprum'').^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus writes the masculine ''scalper'' for a surgical chisel.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a penknife.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sharp tool for scraping, paring or cutting away; a [[m|en|knife]] or [[m|en|chisel]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(agriculture)'' A knife used in budding and pruning; the point of a vine-dresser's [[m|en|billhook]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A cobbler's paring knife.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A surgical chisel for cutting away bone.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A sculptor's or carpenter's chisel.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A [[m|en|penknife]], probably for sharpening reed pens.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An engraving tool; a scraper for [[m|en|parchment]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}