aditus

Forms

aditus m (genitive aditūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin adeō (“to go to, approach”) + -tus, an action noun.^[2][1][3] adeō is made from eō (“to go”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *ei- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ei- (“to go”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus.^[3] An early tragedy has nocturnō aditū occulta coluntur, “secret rites are attended by approach at night”, and Accius has cuius aditum exspectāns pervīxī usque adhūc, “waiting for his coming I have lived on until now”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Aditus is the act of approaching, “approach, entry”, and the right of entry, “access, admission” (Cicero: aditus in id sacrārium nōn est virīs, “men have no access to that shrine”).^[2][5][1] It is a way in, an opening, and concretely an entrance, passage or doorway (Cicero: in prīmō aditū vestibulōque templī, “at the very entrance and forecourt of the temple”).^[2][1] It also means a person's coming or arrival, the chance of approaching someone, “access, an audience”, any “opportunity” or means, and a hostile approach, “attack”.^[2][5][1]

Church Latin glosses it “approach, entry, access, gate”,^[6] and in Medieval Latin it is “opportunity”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[3]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius: cuius aditum exspectāns.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: aditus in id sacrārium nōn est virīs.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An approach, entry.^[2][5][1][6]
2. Right of entry, access, admission.^[2][5][6]
3. A way in, opening; an entrance, passage, doorway.^[2][1][6]
4. Arrival, coming (of a person).^[2]
5. Access (to a person), an audience; an opportunity, means.^[2][1][7]
6. An attack.^[2][1]

Word family

• aditiculus

Related words

• adeō
• eō
• aditiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill