Mausoleum

Forms

Mausōlēum n sg (genitive Mausōlēī); second declension^[1] Inscriptions spell it maesolaeum, moesoleum, musuleum and mesoleum;^[2] Georges adds maesolium.^[3] Medieval Latin also has mauseolum.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Μαυσωλεῖον (Mausōleîon), from Μαύσωλος (Maúsōlos, “Mausolus”) and the suffix -εῖον (-eîon), which forms names of places or buildings.^[1][3][5] Within Latin it can be read as Mausōlus with -ēum.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius, in the 1st century BC, uses it of the tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, which “was made with such fine works that it is named among the seven wonders”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Mela and Pliny the Elder also name the tomb of Mausolus.^[3][5] From the 1st century AD it became a word for any large and splendid tomb, above all those of the emperors at Rome:^[2] Lucan speaks of the Ptolemies' tombs, Florus notes that the tombs of kings are so called, and Martial and Suetonius have it too.^[2] Dated inscriptions, mostly from North Africa, have it from AD 71 to 233.^[6] The Vulgate uses it as well.^[3]

Ecclesiastical Latin kept the sense of a splendid tomb,^[7] and Medieval Latin also used it for a reliquary.^[4] English mausoleum was borrowed from it in the early 15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the tomb of Mausolus.^[2][5]
• 43/44 AD – Mela names the tomb of Mausolus.^[3][5]
• 39–65 AD – Lucan uses it of the tombs of the Ptolemies.^[2][5]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it in the plural.^[2][5]
• c. 120 AD – Florus notes that the tombs of kings are so called.^[2][5]
• 71–233 AD – Dated inscriptions, mostly in North Africa, have it.^[6]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as mausoleum.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, counted among the seven wonders.^[2][3]
2. Any large and splendid tomb, a mausoleum, especially an emperor's tomb at Rome.^[2][3][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) A reliquary.^[4]

Related words

• Mausolus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Kaše, Vojtěch; Heřmánková, Petra; Sobotková, Adéla et al. (2024), LIST: Latin Inscriptions in Space and Time, v1.2 (EDCS + EDH), Aarhus: SDAM, doi:10.5281/zenodo.10473706
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com