The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

382 XIX.xviii.3–xix.11 Isidore of Seville
plumb-line (perpendiculum) issonamed because it is
always set to hang down (adpendere). In short, unless
everything in the construction is made according to the
plumb-line and a sure ruler, it is inevitable that everything
will be built awry, so that some things will be
crooked, others sloping, some leaning forward and some
leaning back – and so all building must be constructed
with these tools.
3.Astring (linea)isnamed from its material, for it is
made from flax (linum). The name of the trowel (trulla)
was given because it pushes (trudere)backandforth, that
is, it covers stones with lime or clay. Hammer (martellus)...Scaffolding(machina)...4.Ladders
(scalae)are
named from climbing (scandere), that is, ascending, for
they cling to the walls. They are called scalae (i.e. a plural
form) whether there is one or there are more, because
the term exists only in the plural, just as the word litterae
(lit. “letters”) means “correspondence.”
xix. Woodworkers (De lignariis) 1. Someone who
works with wood (lignum) iscalled by the general term
‘woodworker’ (lignarius). ‘Wagon-maker’ (carpentarius)isaspecializedterm,for
he only makes wagons (carpentum),
just as a shipbuilder (navicularius)isabuilder
and constructer of ships (navis) only.2. Asarcitector is
so called because out of many planks joined together on
this side and that he repairs (sarcire) onestructureofa
building. The same person is called a tignarius because
he applies plaster to the wood (cf. tignum,“piece of timber,
beam”).
3.Wood (lignum)isnamedusing a Greek etymology
(cf. ,“lamp”) because when ignited it is turned to
light (lumen) and flame. Whence [also] the lamp (lychnium)
issocalled, because it gives light. 4. Allwood,
moreover, is called ‘material’ (materia, also meaning
“timber”) because something can be made from it; the
term will be materia whether you apply it to a door or
toastatue. For material is always necessary for the production
of an object, just as we say that the elements
are the materia of things, because we see that it is from
them that actual things are made. It is called material
(materia)asifthewordwere ‘mother’ (mater).
5. Beams (trabs) are so named because they are set
crossways (in transverso)tokeeptwowallstogether.Timber
(tignum)isone thing and beams are another, for timbers
joined together make a beam. They are beams when
they have been hewn into shape. 6. Aboss(tholus, cf.
Greek , “dome”), strictly speaking, is like a small
shield. It is in the center of the roof, and the beams come
together in it. The tie-beams (coplae, i.e. copulae, lit.
“joinings”) are so named because they join (copulare)
the cross-beams to each other. Cross-beams (luctans)
are so called because when set up they hold themselves
against each other in the manner of wrestlers (luctans).
Agrantes ...7. Posts (asser) are named from ‘singleness’
(as)because they are set up by themselves and not
joined.
Shingles (scindula), because they are split (scindere),
that is, divided. Pegs (epigrus) and nails are items with
which wood is joined to wood. Nails (clavus) areso
named as if the word were calibus,because they are made
from calibs (i.e. chalybs), that is, iron, for chalyps is iron.
8.Boards(tabula)werecalled tagulae by the ancients, as
if from ‘covering’ (tegere), whence also ‘roof-tiles’ (tegulae).
A joining of boards is called a joint (commissura).
The ‘action of cutting’ (sectio) isnamed from ‘following’
(sequi,ppl. secutus) those things it has begun, for ‘to
cut’ (secare) isto‘pursue’(sectare) and‘follow’ (sequi).
9. The name for saw (serra) was formed from a sound,
that is, from its ‘scraping noise’ (stridor). The use of saws
and compasses was invented by Perdix, a certain youth
whom Daedalus, his mother’s brother, had taken in as
aboy to instruct in his studies. It is reported that this
boy had such genius that, when he sought a quick way to
divide wood, he copied the spine of a fish, sharpening a
strip of iron and arming it with the biting power of teeth.
Workmen name this the saw. The invention of this art
drove his teacher Daedalus green with envy, and he threw
the boy headlong from the citadel. Thereupon Daedalus
went to Crete as an exile and was there for some time, as
stories relate. From Crete he flew, using wings, and came
to Cilicia. 10.The compass (circinus)isnamed because it
makes a circle (circulus)whenitisturned.This technique
is carried out with a doubled string, which when single
(i.e. undoubled) had been stretched across the width
(i.e. the diameter desired). The point in the middle of
the compass (i.e. of the circle) is called the center (centrum,i.e.
)bytheGreeks–everything converges
on this middle point.
11. Theax (securis) issonamed because trees are cut
down (succidere) with it, as if the word were succuris.
Again, it is called securis as if it were semicuris, for it is
sharp on one side and suited for digging on the other. 11
11 The allusion may be to curis,akind of spear: a semi-curis might
be a blade sharpened on only one of its two edges.