Saturnus

Forms

Sāturnus m (genitive Sāturnī); second declension^[1] Old spellings are Saeturnus, on an inscription, and Sateurnus, reported by Festus.^[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][1] Wiktionary takes it to be probably borrowed from Etruscan 𐌔𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌄 (satre),^[1] and the OLD calls the god perhaps of Etruscan origin.^[2] Others derive the name from serō¹ (“to sow”), through its participle satus¹;^[4][3][5] Wiktionary and Etymonline treat that derivation as a folk etymology.^[1][6] Ancient grammarians already connected the god with sowing: Varro derived the name from the sowing of crops,^[3] and Isidore adds that he might be named from being sated with years.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The name is first found in Livius Andronicus (280/260–before 200 BC), who addresses a god as Saturni filie “son of Saturn”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Saturn was an old Italic god, commonly identified with the Greek Kronos; legend made him an ancient king of Latium.^[2][3] He was worshipped as a god of sowing, with Ops as his wife.^[4] The name was used for the planet (stella or sidus Saturni, or Saturnus alone), and dies Saturni was the seventh day of the planetary week, especially the Jewish sabbath.^[2] Curtius applies it to Moloch, worshipped at Tyre.^[2]

In medieval alchemy Saturnus was the name of lead.^[8][5] Dies Saturni continued as the name of Saturday,^[8] and Old English took the name of the god and planet as Sætern.^[6]

Timeline

• 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus calls a god “son of Saturn”.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero names the planet Saturni stella.^[2][5]
• c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus has Saturni dies, the sabbath.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Curtius uses the name for a god of Tyre.^[2][5]
• c. 1270 – Roger Bacon writes that lead is called Saturnus.^[8]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. (Roman mythology) Saturn, an ancient Italic god, identified with the Greek Kronos.^[2][3]
2. The planet Saturn.^[2][9]
3. dies Saturni: the seventh day of the week, the sabbath;^[2][8] (Medieval Latin) Saturday.^[2][8]
4. (Medieval Latin, alchemy) lead.^[8][5]

Related words

• English Saturn

Usage notes

Saturni dente “with Saturn's tooth” in Virgil means with a pruning knife.^[2]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
8. ^ a b c d e f 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
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.