The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

378 XIX.x.3–x.22 Isidore of Seville
because it is the bottom (fundus) ofthe building. It is
also called caementum from ‘cutting’ (caedere), because
it rises from thick cut stone.
3. Stones that are suitable for building: white stone,
Tiburtine, columbinus, river stone, porous, red, and the
others. 4. Asforwhitestone,someishardandsome
is soft. Soft stone is cut by saw teeth and is so manageable
to work with that letters may be carved in it as
though in wood. 5. Tiburtine stone is named from the
place in Italy (i.e. Tibur, present-day Tivoli). Although
it is strong enough for building, nevertheless it is easily
split by heat. 6. Tufa (tophus) cannotbeusedfora
building due to its perishability and softness, but it is
appropriate for the foundation. It is crumbled by heat
and sea air, and weathered by rain. 7. Arenacian stone
is conglomerated from sea sand (arena). It is also called
‘thirsty’ because it stores the liquid it soaks up. This is
also called Gaditanus (i.e. ‘of Cadiz’) in Baetica, from
the island in the Ocean where a large quantity is hewn.
8. Piperinus (lit. “peppery”) stone is whitish with black
specks. It is hard and very strong. Cochleacius stone is
conglomerated from shells (cochlea), pebbles, and sand.
It is very rough and sometimes porous. 9. Columbinus
stone is named from the color of the bird (cf. columba,
“dove”). It is close in its character to gypsum and is very
similar in its softness.
10. Molarisstoneisuseful for walls because it has a
rather dense nature. It is hard and rough. Millstones
(mola) are made from it, whence it has derived its
name. There are four kinds; white, black, composite and
porous. 11.Pumice (spongia)isastonemadefromwater,
light and porous and suited for ceilings. 12. Silex (i.e. a
flinty stone) is a hard stone. Of this kind of stone, black
silex is the best, and also red silex in some places. White
silex is undamaged by aging; when carved into monuments
it remains undamaged and even fire does not
harm it. Molds into which bronze is poured are made
from this. Green silex is itself stubbornly resistant to fire,
but there is nowhere where it is abundant, and it is found
only as a stone and not as a rocky outcrop. Pale silex is
rarely useful for foundations. 13. Roundsilex is strong
against damage, but untrustworthy in a structure unless
it is bound by a large amount of cement. 14. Riversilex
always appears to be wet. It should be gathered in the
summer and not set into the structure of a house for two
years.
As far as building with clay is concerned, baked bricks
are suited for walls and foundations, while curved and
flat tiles are suitable for roofs. 15. ‘Flat roof-tiles’ (tegula)
are so named because they cover (tegere) abuilding,
and ‘curved tiles’ (imbrex)because they receive the rain
(imber). Tegula is the primary term, and tigillum (lit.
“small plank”) is the diminutive. 16. Smallbricks(laterculus)are
so called because their stretched-out (latus)
shape is formed by four boards placed all the way around.
Bricks (later) are unfired, and they also are so named
because when ‘stretched out’ (latus) they are shaped
with wooden forms. 17. Some of these forms are called
cratis, the wicker forms in which people are accustomed
to carry the clay for these unfired bricks. They
are interwoven from reeds, and named after the term
(“hold”), that is, because they hold on to each
other.
18. Somepeopleclaim that mud (lutum) isnamed
by antiphrasis, because it is not clean, for every thing
that has been washed (lavare, ppl. lotus), is clean. 19.
Quicklime (calcis viva; i.e. calx viva) 4 is so called because
although it may be cold to the touch, it contains fire
hidden inside, and for this reason, when water is poured
on it, the hidden fire immediately bursts forth. Its nature
produces something amazing, for after it has caught fire
it burns in water, which usually extinguishes fire, and
it is extinguished by oil, which usually ignites fire. Its
use is essential in constructing a building, for one stone
cannot adhere strongly enough to another unless they
are joined with lime. 20.Gypsum(gypsum)isarelativeof
lime, and it is a Greek term (i.e. ). There are many
kinds. The best of all is good as ‘translucent stone’ (lapis
specularis; see XVI.iv.37 above), and it is most pleasing
in the images on buildings and in cornices. 21. Sand
(arena, i.e. harena)isnamed from dryness (areditas, i.e.
ariditas), not from clinging (adhaerere)inconstruction,
as some people claim. It passes the test if it squeaks when
pressed in the hand or if no stain remains when it is
spread out on a white cloth.
22. Columns (columna) are named for their length
and roundness (cf. colus, “distaff”; see xxix.2 below);
the weight of the entire building rests on them. The
ancient ratio was that a third of the height of the columns
4 The ‘quick’ of English ‘quicklime’ also means “living,” that is,
unslaked, chemically more active.