cera Latin · revision 5314

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkeː.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛː.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cēra''' ''f'' (genitive cērae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably a loanword, either [[bor|grc|κηρός|tr=kērós|t=wax]] or from an unknown language.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan notes that if the Doric form with ⟨ā⟩ is genuine, Latin took the Ionic-Attic form and made it a feminine in ''-a''.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary and the TLL also mention [[lt|korỹs|t=honeycomb]], and Wiktionary [[sq|qiri|t=candle]], suggesting a substrate word.^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who has a man filling four wax tablets.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was beeswax, and in the plural the wax cells of bees.^(OLD 2012) Wax was used for sealing and plugging, for seals on documents, for coloured paint, and for portrait masks of ancestors, and ''cēra'' or ''cērae'' was a writing tablet coated with wax, or one page of it.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In medieval Latin it meant a candle, especially the Easter candle.^(Niermeyer 1976) The DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */ˈker-a/, with the senses “beeswax”, “candle” and “earwax”, continued in every branch of Romance.^(DÉRom) [[en|cere]] “wax” came from French ''cire''.^(Etymonline) Its derivative [[cēreus]] meant a wax candle.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus fills four wax tablets.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the last page of a ledger.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius compares something to wax melting on fire.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 15th century – English ''cere'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|beeswax]], wax.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (plural) The wax cells of a honeycomb.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A wax seal; wax for plugging.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # A wax-coated writing [[m|en|tablet]]; a page of one.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A candle, especially the Easter candle.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cērārius]]

+ * [[cēreus]]

+ * [[cērificō]]

+ * [[cērinus]]

+ * [[cērō]]

+ * [[cērōsus]]

+ * [[cērula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|cere]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}