Etymologically
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Uranus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈuː.ra.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈuː.ra.nus][1]

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]
  • 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