Quintilis

Forms

Quīntīlis m (genitive Quīntīlis); third declension; adjective Quīntīlis, neuter Quīntīle^[1][2] It is also spelled Quīnctīlis.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin quīntus (“fifth”) + -īlis,^[2][1] as the fifth month counted from March, the first month of the older Roman year.^[3][4][1] As a noun it stands for Quīntīlis mēnsis (“the fifth month”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero dates letters by it: nōnīs Quīntīlibus vēnī in Puteolānum, “on the Nones of Quintilis I came to my villa at Puteoli”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It named the month that followed June until it was renamed Iūlius in honour of Julius Caesar,^[3][4][5] in 44 BC.^[1] Suetonius reports the renaming.^[3] As an adjective it qualified the days of the month, as in Livy's Īdibus Quīntīlibus, on the Ides of July.^[3][6]

Bede notes that July had earlier been called Quintilis from its number, and an early glossary equates the two names.^[7] Old English and Old High German glosses render it.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero dates his letters by the month.^[2][6][8]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy dates events to the Ides of Quintilis.^[3][6][8]
• 44 BC – The month is renamed Iūlius.^[1]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius records the renaming.^[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Quintilis, the fifth month of the early Roman year, later called Iūlius, July.^[2][3][4]

Adjective

1. Of the month Quintilis: Nōnae Quīntīlēs, the Nones of July.^[2][9]

Related words

• quīntus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.