Apollo

Forms

Apollō m (genitive Apollinis or Apollōnis); third declension^[1] Paulus' epitome of Festus records an older Apellō.^[2][3] Early inscriptions have the genitive Apolones and the dative Apolenei.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀπόλλων (Apóllōn).^[1][4][5] Beekes finds no Indo-European etymology for the Greek name and takes it to be Pre-Greek, pointing to the variants Doric Ἀπέλλων (Apéllōn) and Thessalian Ἄπλουν (Áploun).^[6] The TLL compares the Etruscan name of the god, Etruscan Aplu,^[5] and Wiktionary gives a cognate, Faliscan 𐌀𐌐𐌏𐌋𐌏 (apolo).^[1]

In antiquity Macrobius explained the name as the god who “drives away evils”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, who speaks of “long-haired Apollo” bending his golden bow.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The name denotes the son of Jupiter and Latona, god of prophecy, music and poetry, archery and medicine.^[2][7] By metonymy it stood for a statue of the god, as when Cicero reports that the Apollo at Cumae sweated,^[2] and in poetry for his temple: in Virgil “Apollo”, dreaded by sailors, comes into view at Actium.^[2]

The genitive formed several names: Apollinis sidus was one name for the planet Mercury,^[2] Apollinis promunturium a cape near Utica in North Africa,^[2] and towns were named after him.^[2]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius describes Apollo drawing his bow.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the name for a statue of the god at Cumae.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for the temple of Apollo at Actium.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder records Apollinis sidus as a name of the planet Mercury.^[2][4]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. (Greek and Roman mythology) Apollo, the god of prophecy, music, poetry, archery and medicine.^[2][1]
2. A statue of Apollo.^[2][7]
3. (poetic) The temple of Apollo.^[2][7]
4. In names: Apollinis sidus, the planet Mercury;^[2] Apollinis promunturium, a cape near Utica; also in the names of towns.^[2]

Related words

• English Apollo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier