Ianus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈjaː.nʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈjaː.nus]^[1]

Forms

Iānus m sg (genitive Iānī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the noun iānus (“arched passage”), inherited from Proto-Italic *jānu- (“door”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ieh₂-n-u- (“passage”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂- (“to go, travel”).^[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit याति (yā́ti, “goes, travels”), Lithuanian jóti (“to ride”), Old Church Slavonic ꙗхати (jaxati, “to travel”) and Old Irish áth (“ford”).^[2][3][4] All old forms are o-stems, but the derivative iānua “door” suggests an older u-stem, and Festus has a dative iānuī.^[2][3] The oldest meaning will have been “passage, corridor”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

As a common noun iānus meant an archway or covered passage, which Cicero says were called iānī because they were passages.^[3] Janus was the god of gates and doorways and then of beginnings in general, usually shown with two faces.^[3][6] The Iānus geminus or Iānus Quirīnus was his shrine in the Forum, an arch with doors at each end closed in time of peace, and the Iānus summus, medius and īmus were three arches on the Forum frequented by moneylenders and merchants.^[3] Macrobius makes him an ancient king of Italy who was deified.^[6]

His month, iānuārius, was spelled iēnuārius in Vulgar Latin.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero explains the archways called iānī.^[3][5]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. Janus, god of doorways and of beginnings, shown with two faces.^[3]
2. The shrine of Janus in the Forum, closed in time of peace.^[3]
3. (lowercase) An archway, gateway, covered passage.^[3]

Word family

• iānua
• iānuārius

Related words

• English January
• English janitor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.