regillus

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Latin

Etymology

From regō or rēx.[1]

The form is consistent with a derivation from rēx (“king”) via rēgīna (“queen, female member of a royal household”)[2][3] with contraction of -īn- +‎ -lus to -īllus; compare ovīllus, suīllus, bovīllus. This derivation seems to fit the use in Plautus, which seems similar in sense to rēgius (“magnificent”), and Nonius supposes the word to be a diminutive of rēgius. However, this etymology does not clearly explain why the word was apparently used to refer to some specific garment.

An alternative hypothesis holds that it originated primarily as a derivative of the verb regō,[4] with any apparent connection to rēx being a secondary allusion or play on words.[5] In this case, the form might represent a construction such as *rēgulus + -lus (compare rēgula),[6] and the original sense is assumed to have been something like "woven vertically". Compare the use of rēctus in Pliny Natural History 8.194, "Ea prima texuit rectam tunicam, quales cum toga pura tironi induuntur novaeque nuptae." This etymology might be given by Festus, depending on how the passage is punctuated and interpreted.[1]

Radicke 2023 supports the derivation from regō along the lines of rēgula, but does not accept the explanation (based on Festus and Pliny) that this referred to weaving style, or the equation of the term with rēctus, or the assumption that this was ever a traditional type of Roman garment. Radicke instead assumes that the term regillam induculam used by Plautus represents a translation of Greek χιτὼν (khitṑn) ὀρθοστάδιος (orthostádios) (a long ungirded chiton that hung in a straight (ὀρθός (orthós)) line to the ground), and concludes that all subsequent appearances of regillus as a term for a garment in Latin texts (including in Varro) are based on a misunderstanding of the hapax in Plautus.[7]

Pronunciation

Adjective

rēgī̆llus (feminine rēgī̆lla, neuter rēgī̆llum); first/second-declension adjective

  1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: royal, sumptuous, magnificent (seemingly used to name some specific type of garment)
    • c. 190 BCE, Plautus, Epidicus 2.2.39:[8]
      Quid erat induta? an regillam induculam an mendiculam?
      What was she wearing? The regal slip or the beggarly one?
    • 116 BCE – 27 BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, Menippeae 372.2:[1]
      regillae tunicae definitur purpura
      • 2004 translation by Benedicte Nielsen
        The scarlet of a rēgilla tunic...
    • 4th century AD, Nonius, De compendiosa doctrina 539:[1]
      regilla vestis diminutive a regia dicta
      • 2004 translation by Benedicte Nielsen
        The rēgilla suit is diminutively named after rēgia...
    • Paulus Diaconus's epitome of Festus's De verborum significatu:
      regillis tunicis albis et reticulis luteis utrisque <re>ctis textis susum versum a stantibus pridie nuptiarum diem virgines indutae cubitum ibant ominis causa ut etiam in togis virilibus dandis observari solet
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

singular plural
masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
nominative rēgī̆llus rēgī̆lla rēgī̆llum rēgī̆llī rēgī̆llae rēgī̆lla
genitive rēgī̆llī rēgī̆llae rēgī̆llī rēgī̆llōrum rēgī̆llārum rēgī̆llōrum
dative rēgī̆llō rēgī̆llae rēgī̆llō rēgī̆llīs
accusative rēgī̆llum rēgī̆llam rēgī̆llum rēgī̆llōs rēgī̆llās rēgī̆lla
ablative rēgī̆llō rēgī̆llā rēgī̆llō rēgī̆llīs
vocative rēgī̆lle rēgī̆lla rēgī̆llum rēgī̆llī rēgī̆llae rēgī̆lla

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nielsen, Benedicte (2004) “On Latin instrument-nouns in */lo/”, in James Clackson, Birgit Anette Olsen, editors, Indo-European Word Formation, Museum Tusculanum Press, pages 200-203
  2. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “rēx”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 522
  3. ^ "Latin Diminutives in -Ello/A- and -Illo/A-: A Study in Diminutive Formation." George Kleppinger Strodach. Language, Vol. 9, No. 1, Language Dissertation No. 14 (Mar., 1933), pp. 7-98. Linguistic Society of America, http://www.jstor.org/stable/522000 Page 41
  4. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “regō”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 517
  5. ^ Ernout, Alfred, Meillet, Antoine (1985) “regillus”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots‎ (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 567
  6. ^ “rēgillus” on page 1599 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
  7. ^ Radicke, Jan (2023) Roman Women’s Dress, De Gruyter, pages 192, 570, 602-606
  8. ^ T. Maccius Plautus. Plauti Comoediae. F. Leo. Berlin. Weidmann. 1895. Via Perseus

Further reading

  • “regillus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • regillus in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2024), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
  • regillus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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