cardo Latin · revision 5318

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkar.doː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkar.do]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cardō''' ''m'' (genitive cardinis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The etymology is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists similar Germanic words for a hinge, such as [[ang|heorra|t=hinge]] and [[goh|scerdo|t=hinge]], but they cannot be derived from one form with Latin.^(de Vaan 2008) The traditional comparison with [[grc|κράδη|tr=krádē|t=twig; swing]] is considered unlikely because the shared sense of swinging is metaphorical and probably late.^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Isidore links it to [[grc|καρδία|tr=kardía|t=heart]], because the hinge moves the whole door as the heart moves the whole man.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008) Cato uses it of the pivot of an oil press.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a pivot on which something turns, especially a door hinge, a tenon or mortise, and the poles of the heavens.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It was also any of the four cardinal points, a region, and a turning point or critical moment, as in Virgil's ''tantō cardine rērum''.^(OLD 2012) In surveying the ''cardō'' was the base line running north to south, and generally a limit or boundary.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In medieval Latin, clerics ''in cardine'' were those privileged to assist the pope or a bishop, and it was also a threshold or beginning.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS) From the adjective [[cardinālis]] “principal”, literally “of a hinge”, come [[en|cardinal]], first the churchman and then “chief”.^(Etymonline) French ''charnière'' “hinge” also goes back to it.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a pivot.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of a creaking hinge and a turning point of affairs.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore links it to the Greek word for heart.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 12th century – English ''cardinal'' (the churchman) is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|hinge]], pivot.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # A tenon; a mortise.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A pole of the heavens.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A cardinal point; a region.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A turning point, critical moment.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(surveying)'' A north–south base line; a limit.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A threshold, beginning.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cardinālis]]

+ * [[cardinātus]]

+ * [[cardineus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|cardinal]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A late homograph ''cardō'' (genitive ''cardōnis'') “thistle”, a by-form of [[carduus]], is the source of [[en|cardoon]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}