Origin and history of scopa

scopa(n.)

tuft of hairs on a bee's leg, 1802, from Latin scopae (plural) "twigs, shoots; a broom, brush," which is related to scapus "shaft," which perhaps is cognate with Greek skapos "staff," skēptron "staff, scepter" (see scepter).

also from 1802

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scepter(n.)

"staff of office peculiar to royalty or independent sovereignty," c. 1300, ceptre, from Old French ceptre, sceptre (12c.) and directly from Latin sceptrum "royal staff," from Greek skēptron "staff to lean on," in a Persian and Asian context, "royal scepter," in transferred use, "royalty," from root of skeptein "'to support oneself, lean; pretend something, use as a pretention." Beekes has this from a root *skap- (perhaps non-Indo-European) and compares Latin scapus "shaft, stalk," Albanian shkop "stick, scepter," Old High German skaft, Old Norse skapt, Old English sceaft "shaft, spear, lance" (see shaft (n.1)).

The verb meaning "to furnish with a scepter" is from 1520s; hence "invest with royal authority." Related: Sceptred.

scoparious(adj.)

"broom-shaped," by 1891, from Latin scopa "broom" (see scopa) + -arious. Late Latin scoparius was "a sweeper." An older English word in the same sense was scopiform (1794).

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Trends of scopa

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

Origin and history of scopa

scopa(n.)

Entries linking to scopa

Trends of scopa

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