| 释义 |
‖ opus signinum|ˈɒpəs sɪgˈniːnəm|
[L. opus work + signinum Signian, of or pertaining to Signia.]
A flooring material used by the Romans and consisting of broken tiles and other fragments mixed with lime mortar, being named after Signia (modern Segni), a town in Latium which was famous for its tiles.
References to opus signinum occur in the works of Columella, Vitruvius, and Pliny: see Lewis and Short Lat. Dict. s.v. Signinus. A description of the making of opus signinum is found in Vitruvius De Architectura vii. vi. §14.
1745Columella's Husbandry i. vi. 34 They, it seems, contrived a plaister or flooring made with bruised tiles, or sheards of earthen vessels, and lime, tempered together. With this composition they made very durable floors, &c. and this they called opus Signinum. 1899R. Glazier Man. Hist. Ornament 75 Opus Signinum, small pieces of tile. 1937Discovery July 208/1 A [Roman] floor of bits of stone and tile bound together with cement (opus signinum). 1967Antiquaries Jrnl. XLVII. 269 The two northern cells retained their floors of opus signinum which, in both cells, had been once renewed. 1971P. Fischer Mosaic 45 The humblest mosaic-type floor decoration, opus signinum (named after Signia, a town in Latium), is a levelled surface made up from odd fragments of stone or pottery of different colours, set at random in lime mortar rather like raisins in a cake. 1974Encycl. Brit. Micropædia VII. 557/3 Opus signinum was the prevalent form of pavement in Roman houses from the 1st century bc to about the 2nd century ad when it was rapidly replaced in main rooms by patterned pavement mosaics of the tessellated variety. |