Uranus

Forms

Ūranus m sg (genitive Ūranī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Οὐρανός (Ouranós), the name of the sky god,^[2][3][1] which is the Greek common noun for “sky, heaven”.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lactantius uses it for the father of Saturn, the god whom Latin itself called Caelus.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Latin the name stayed a learned borrowing from Greek myth;^[2] Lewis and Short note that the native Latin name for the god was Caelus.^[2] In Medieval Latin the common noun uranus was used for the vault of heaven, glossing caelum, and in Ælfric's glossary for the roof of the mouth; the DMLBS also records it in a glossary as the name of a fish, the thornback ray.^[6] In New Latin it became the name of the planet Uranus.^[1][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius names Uranus as the father of Saturn.^[2][4]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. (Greek mythology) Uranus, the god of the sky, father of Saturn.^[2][3][1]
2. (poetic) The sky.^[1]
3. (Medieval Latin, as a common noun) The vault of heaven; the palate.^[6]
4. (New Latin, astronomy) The planet Uranus.^[1][7]

Related words

• Caelus
• English Uranus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b Victionarium (Latin Wiktionary), la.wiktionary.org