The etymologies of Isidore of Seville / [translated by] Stephen A. Barney ... [and others] ; with the collaboration of Muriel Hall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Isidore, of Seville, Saint, -636.

Contributor:

Barney, Stephen A.

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Standardized Title:

Etymologiae. English

Language:

English

Latin

Subjects (All):

Encyclopedias and dictionaries--Early works to 1600.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries.

Latin language--Etymology--Early works to 1800.

Latin language.

Didactic literature, Latin (Medieval and modern)--Translations into English.

Didactic literature, Latin (Medieval and modern).

Latin language--Etymology.

Genre:

Encyclopedias.

Physical Description:

xii, 475 pages ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

Translated from the Latin.

Summary:

This work is the first complete English translation of the Latin Etymologies of Isidore, Bishop of Seville (c. 560-636). Isidore compiled the work between c. 615 and the early 630s and it takes the form of an encyclopedia, arranged by subject-matter. It contains much lore of the late classical world beginning with the Seven Liberal Arts, including Rhetoric, and touches on hundreds of topics ranging from the names of God, the terminology of the law, the technologies of fabrics, ships, and agriculture, to the names of cities and rivers, the theatrical arts, and cooking utensils. Isidore provides etymologies for most of the terms he explains, finding in the causes of words the underlying key to their meaning. This book offers a highly readable translation of the twenty books of the Etymologies, one of the most influential texts for 1,000 years from Isidore's time.

Contents:

Grammar and its parts

Rhetoric and dialectic

Mathematics, whose parts are arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy

Medicine

Laws and the instruments of the judiciary, and chronology

The order of scripture, cycles and canons, liturgical feasts and offices

Gods and angels, prophetic nomenclature, names of the holy fathers, martyrs, clerics, monks, and other names

Church and synagogue, religion and faith, heresies, philosophers, poets, sibyls, magicians, pagans, gods of the gentiles

Languages of the nations, royal, military, and civic terminology, family relationships

Certain terms in alphabetical order

Human beings and their parts, the ages of humans, portents and metamorphoses

Four-footed animals, creeping animals, fish, and flying animals

Elements, that is, the heavens and the air, waters, the sea, rivers and floods

Earth, paradise, the regions of the whole globe, islands, mountains, other terms for places, and the lower regions of the earth

Cities, urban and rural buildings, fields, boundaries and measures of fields, roads

Earthly materials from land and water, every kind of gem and precious stones, ivory likewise, treated along with marble, glass, all the metals, weights and measures

Agriculture, crops of every kind, vines and trees of every kind, herbs and all vegetables

Wars and triumphs and the instruments of war, the forum, spectacles, games of chance and ball games

Ships, ropes, and nets, iron workers, the construction of walls and all the implements of building, also wool-working, ornaments, and all kinds of clothing

Tables, foodstuffs, drink, and their vessels, vessels for wine, water, and oil, vessels of cooks, bakers, and lamps, beds, chairs, vehicles, rural and garden implements, equestrian equipment.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [29]-31) and indexes.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

0521837499

9780521837491

OCLC:

56942080

Online:

Publisher description

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