Matuta

Forms

Mātūta f sg (genitive Mātūtae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mātūto- (“of early morning”), which, like mātūrus (“ripe”), presupposes a noun *mātu- (“ripeness, early moment”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-tu- (“ripeness”).^[2] The same noun lies behind mātūtīnus (“of early morning”).^[2] The root is probably the same as in māne (“in the morning”).^[2][1][3] An Oscan divine name in the dative plural, Oscan maatúís, may be related.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds the name first in Lucretius (96–55 BC),^[2][4] where Matuta is the goddess of the dawn, the same as Aurora.^[3]

Semantic evolution

She was an old Italian goddess of the early morning, usually called Māter Mātūta,^[5][6] and her festival was the Mātrālia.^[2] Cicero and Ovid identify her with the Greek Ino or Leucothea,^[7][3] probably because of the name, and the legends of Ino passed to her with part of the cult.^[5] Augustine names her as the goddess who protects the ripening of crops.^[5]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius names Matuta as the dawn.^[3][6][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero identifies Mater Matuta with Ino.^[3][6][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid tells the story of Ino as Matuta in the Fasti.^[3][5][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine speaks of her as a protector of ripening crops.^[5][4]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. (Roman mythology) Matuta, the goddess of the dawn or early morning, the same as Aurōra.^[7][3][1]
2. (Roman mythology) Māter Mātūta, a name of Ino (Leucothea).^[7][3][1]

Related words

• mātūrus
• mātūtīnus
• māne

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 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 d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press