serra

serra, ae, f. [perh. = sec - ra, seg - ra, from seco].

• A saw, the invention of Daedalus, Ov. M. 8, 246; Sen. Ep. 90, 8; Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 198; Hyg. Fab. 274: stridens, Lucr. 2, 410: stridor serrae, Cic. Tusc. 5, 40, 116; Varr. ap. Non. 223, 19; Vitr. 2, 7: arguta, Verg. G. 1, 143 et saep.—Prov.: serram ducere cum aliquo de aliquā re, to quarrel with one about something, Varr. R. R. 3, 6, 1; so, too, quamdiu per hanc lineam serram reciprocabimus? Tert. Cor. Mil. 3.— Trop., of the back of a thin person, Mart. 11, 100, 4.—
• II Transf.
• • A A kind of sawfish, Plin. 9, 2, 1, § 3; 32, 11, 53, § 145.—
  • B A serrated order of battle: serra proeliari dicitur, cum assidue acceditur recediturque neque ullo consistitur tempore. Cato de re militari: Sive opus est cuneo, aut globo, aut forcipe aut turribus aut serrā uti adoriare, Fest. p. 344 Müll.; cf. Gell. 10, 9, 1; Veg. Mil. 3, 19 fin.—
  • C A threshingwain, with serrated wheels, Hier. in Amos, 1; Vulg. lsa. 28, 27.—
  • D Serra, in relig. lang., the name of the Tiber, acc. to Serv. Verg. A. 8, 63.

serra, ae, f., die Säge, I) eig., Cic. u.a.: serrā secare, Plin., scindere, Sen.: zum Schneiden des Marmors, Plin. 36, 51. – Sprichw., serram cum alqo ducere, mit jmd. streiten, Varro r. r. 3, 6 in.; vgl. Tert. de cor. mil. 3. – II) übtr.: A) eine säge- oder schlangenförmige Schlachtordnung, die Säge, Cato de re mil. fr. 11. Gell. 10, 9, 1. Veget. mil. 3, 19 extr. – B) ein Seefisch, viell. der Sägefisch, Plin. 9, 3. – C) der Dreschwagen mit gezackten Rädern, Hieron. in Amos 1. Vulg. Isai. 28, 27.

1 serra v. 3 sera

2 serra [CL] 1 saw; b (as instrument of execution); c (fig.). autolops ‥ longis cornibus, quae ~ae figuram habent, ingentia robora ‥ ad terram deponit Lib. Monstr. II 24; ~am, sage GlP 896; eundemque aiunt usum ~e repperisse Alb. Lond. DG 7. 3; necesse est ‥ si lignum dividitur cum ~a, quod hoc fiat aliquo serrante T. Sutton Gen. & Corrupt. 182; 1329 una sarra pro petra sarranda, longitudinis quatuor pedum (Works) KR Ac 467/6 (1); cum ‥ securibus, sarris, et cuneis pro silvis prosternendis et lignis secandis et findendis Strecche Hen. V 150; cerra, sawe WW.  b gloriabitur securis ‥ aut exaltabitur ~a erga eum a quo trahitur P. Blois Ep. 225; Esaiam ad ~am condemnare Jewel Apol. A iij.  c cujus ‥ limae vel ~e sunt lingue maledicentium et detrahentium Hon. Eluc. 1136B; Zoile, tu laudum cinicus [v. l. cuneus], tu serra bonorum Hanv. I 96; ave, lima vitiorum / ave serra sordium Walt. Wimb. Virgo 69. 2 sawfish. fitque suis cristis metuendus serra carinis / quas infigit eis dum subnatat V. Merl. 844; est belua in mari que dicitur ~a, pennas habens inmanes Best. 107 f. 55. 3 mountain ridge (cf. Sp. sierra). 1308 de dicta ulmo prout ~a protenditur recto tramite usque ad pedem furcarum de Valencia, et de dictis furcis, eundo per dictam ~am usque ad viam publicam RGasc IV 216.

serra, (13) æ, f. , ¶ 1 scie : Cic. Tusc. 5, 116 ; Lucr. 2, 410 || [prov.] serram cum aliquo ducere Varro R. 3, 6, 1, échanger des mots avec qqn ¶ 2 [fig.] a) Cato Mil. 11, = soit manœuvre militaire semblable au va-et-vient de la scie : Fest. 344 ; soit ordre de bataille en forme de scie : Gell. 10, 9, 1, b) scie [poisson] : Plin. 9, 3 ; c) chariot ayant des roues à dents : Hier. Amos 1.

serra , ae. f.
鋸刀。魚名。

Suggest a Translation
See an image

serra ae, f

• 2 SAC-, a saw: stridor serrae: arguta, V.

SERRA

SERRAdim. SE´RBULA (πρίων), a saw. It is not improbable, as Virgil says (Georg. 1.144, a line rejected by some critics), that it was an invention which superseded the primitive use of wedges, but it is at any rate very ancient, and its origin is lost in the mythical ages, being attributed either to Daedalus (Plin. Nat.7.188; Sen. Epist. 90), or to his nephew Perdix (Hyg. Fab. 274; Ovid, Ov. Met. 8.246) [CIRCINUS], also called Talos, who, having found the jaw of a serpent and divided a piece of wood with it, was led to imitate the teeth in iron (Diod. Sic. 4.76; Apollodor. 3.15). Hyginus and Isidore (Orig. 19.19) make the backbone of a fish the original pattern. In a bas-relief published by Winckelmann (Mon. Ined. ii. fig. 94), Daedalus is represented holding a saw approaching very closely in form to the Egyptian saw delineated below. The iron blade of the saw was called τάρσος in Greek (Opp. Hal. 5.201), lamina in Latin (Verg. G. 1.143); the teeth, ὀδόντες and dentes. The form of the larger saw used for cutting timber is seen in the woodcut below, which is taken from a miniature in the celebrated Dioscorides written at the beginning of the sixth century (Montfaucon, Pal. Graec. p. 203). It is of the kind which we call the frame-saw, because it is fixed in a rectangular frame. It was held by a workman (serrarius, Sen. Epist. 57) at each end. The line was used to mark the timber in order to guide the saw (Sen. Epist. 90); and its movement was facilitated by driving wedges with a hammer between the planks (tenues tabulae) or rafters (trabes). (Corippus, de Laud. just. 4.45-48.) A similar representation of the use of the frame-saw is given in a painting found at Herculaneum, the operators being winged genii, as in this woodcut (Ant. d'Ercol. i. tav. 34); but in a bas-relief published by Micali (Ital. av. il Dom. dei Rom. tav. 49) the two sawyers wear tunics girt round the waist like that of the ship-builder in the woodcut under ASCIAThe woodcut here introduced also shows the blade of the saw detached from its frame, with a ring at each end for fixing it in the frame, and exhibited on a tomb-stone published by Gruter.

On each side of the last-mentioned figure is represented a hand-saw adapted to be used by a single person. That on the left is from the same monument as the blade of the frame-saw; that on the right is the figure of an ancient Egyptian saw preserved in the British Museum. These saws (serrulae manubriatae) were used to divide the smaller objects. Some of them, called lupi, had a particular shape, by which they were adapted for amputating the branches of trees (Pallad. de Re Rust. 1.43). It is not unlikely that these were saws with a wide set to the teeth. The primitive saws, no doubt, had teeth running in the same line as the blade: it must have been an improvement to have what is called a set, i. e. the alternate teeth bent sideways in opposite directions to prevent the saw from getting jammed in its passage, and the lupi for sawing trees would naturally be improved by having a wide set. This is what Pliny (H. H. 16.227) must mean by alterna inclinatio.

Pliny (Plin. Nat.36.159) mentions the use of the saw in the ancient Belgium for cutting white building-stone: some of the oolitic and cretaceous rocks are still treated in the same manner both in that part of the Continent and in the south of England. In this case Pliny must be understood to speak of a proper or toothed saw. The saw without teeth was then used, just as it is now, by the workers in marble, and the place of teeth was supplied, according to the hardness of the stone, either by emery or by various kinds of sand of inferior hardness (Plin. Nat.36.51). In this manner the ancient artificers were able to cut slabs of the hardest rocks, which consequently were adapted to receive the highest polish, such as granite porphyry, lapis-lazuli, and amethyst. [MOLA; PARIES. ] The serrula in Cic. Clu. 64, 180, with which the bottom of a chest was cut out, has given rise to some discussion. In a recent number of the Classical Review(Oct. 1889) Mr. Owen suggests that it was a round saw, shaped like a tea-cup inverted, which worked on the bottom of the chest by means of a handle moving on the principle of a brace and bit. A drawing of such a tool is given in the article referred to. We are assured by a working carpenter that, though nothing of the kind is known in the modern trade, it would act efficiently and also more silently than a saw drawn backwards and forwards, assuming that it has a pivot to work on; and moreover that it would not be difficult to make such an implement with a thin ribbon saw. We think, therefore, that the suggestion is plausible: otherwise there is no difficulty in imagining a hole first bored in the natural way with a centrebit [see TEREBRUM ] and the piece cut out with a small saw, like our key-hole saw, with a thin end, toothed on both sides and capable of being turned round. Cicero was, of course, not describing anything that he had seen: the only necessary condition is that it should not be of the patterns in most ordinary use. (On the general subject, see Beckmann, Hist. of Inventions, 1.361; Blümner, Technologie, 2.216-221.)

[J.Y] [G.E.M]

Serra

(πρίων). A saw. The ancient forms of the saw were identical with those found in our own time, as the accompanying representations show, taken from a Pompeian painting, Gruter, and an Egyptian source respectively. The blade of the saw was called lamina. St. Jerome (In Is. xxviii. 27) is thought to refer to the circular saw; and Pliny (Pliny H. N. xxxvi. 9) speaks of a saw for cutting stone, but toothless, the place of teeth being supplied by emery or very fine sand. The word serrarius denotes a saw-maker, while prista is used of a person who saws.