cauda Latin · revision 4682

16 Oct 2026, 00:11 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=Accius}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkau̯.da]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaːu̯.da]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''cauda''' ''f'' (genitive caudae); first declension^(Wiktionary)
+ A popular form ''cōda'' appears in Varro and Petronius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It may be [[inh|itc-pro|*kaud-ā-|t=part, tail]], [[inh|ine-pro|*keh₂u-d-|t=cleaved, separate]], the tail being the loose part of the animal; this would make it a relative of [[cūdō]] “to beat” and [[caudex]] “tree trunk”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The Oxford Latin Dictionary and Lewis & Short call it doubtful, and the Thesaurus unknown.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Georges compared [[lt|kutas|t=tuft]].^(Georges 1913)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Accius speaks of a feathered tail.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Accius 170–c. 90 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was the tail of an animal, bird or fish, as of a lion and a peacock in Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Horace uses it of the penis, and Cicero notes that the ancients called the penis ''cauda''.^(OLD 2012) It was also the tail end of anything, such as a root.^(OLD 2012) Persius uses ''caudam iactāre'' for flattering the crowd.^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ 
+ In medieval Latin it was also the tailbone, a measure of liquid, and the tag on which a seal hung from a charter.^(MLW)^(Niermeyer 1976) The form ''cōda'' gave Old French ''coe'' “tail”, from which came English ''coward'' and ''queue''.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a lion's and a peacock's tail.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * mid-13th century – English ''coward'' is recorded, from Old French ''coart'', from ''coe'' “tail”.^(Etymonline)
+ * late 15th century – English ''queue'' is recorded, first of a band holding a seal.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|tail]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # The [[m|en|penis]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # The tail end (of anything).^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The tailbone; a measure of liquid; a seal tag.^(MLW)^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[bicōdulus]]
+ * [[ēcaudis]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[caudex]]
+ * [[cūdō]]
+ * [[en|coward]]
+ * [[en|queue]]
+ * [[en|coda]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}