A capella

Use this forum to suggest Good Words for Professor Beard.
William Hupy
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 611
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:14 pm

A capella

Postby William Hupy » Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:14 pm

From Italian, through which all things music derive, for alla capella, in the manner of the chapel. In turn from the Latin for little cape, which provided sanctuary, as the legend goes, for a beggar provided a cloak by a Roman soldier in Gaul. Later honored as St. Martin, the patron Saint of France.
William A. Hupy

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8091
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: A capella

Postby Slava » Thu Aug 24, 2023 3:43 pm

If you're like me, you have no idea who Martin was. Here's a paragraph, courtesy of etymonline:
By tradition, the name is originally in reference to the sanctuary in France in which the miraculous cape of St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of France, was preserved. (While serving Rome as a soldier deployed in Gaul, Martin cut his military coat in half to share it with a ragged beggar. That night, Martin dreamed Christ wearing the half-cloak; the half Martin kept was the relic.) The other theory is that it comes from Medieval Latin capella in a literal sense of "canopy, hood" and is a reference to the "covering" of the altar when Mass is said.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.


Return to “Good Word Suggestions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot] and 48 guests