aeon

Forms

aeōn m (genitive aeōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek αἰών (aiṓn, “age, eternity”).^[1][2][3] The Greek word goes back to Proto-Hellenic *aiwṓn and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vital force, life”).^[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian (c. 160–220 AD)^[3] uses it for the Aeons of the Gnostics, eternal entities in the system of Valentinus, who, as Lewis & Short put it, held them to be gods.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The Latin translation of Irenaeus uses the word for the same Gnostic beings, and a glossary renders aeonas by saecula “ages”.^[7]

In medieval Latin it meant eternity, a century or simply a span of time,^[8] and charters use it in solemn formulas: one of 972 speaks of the beginning “of this aeon”,^[9] and one of 995 has in eona eonum “for ever and ever”.^[10] British writers also use it for the personified Aeons of the heretics.^[10] English borrowed it from Late Latin in the 1640s as eon.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian writes of the Aeons of the Valentinian Gnostics.^[6][5][3]
• beginning of the 10th century – Eugenius Vulgarius uses it.^[3]
• 972 – A charter speaks of the beginning “of this aeon”.^[9]
• 995 – A charter, in a 12th-century copy, has in eona eonum “for ever and ever”.^[10]
• 1640s – English borrows it as eon.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) An age; eternity.^[1][8][10]
2. (Late Latin) One of the Aeons, the eternal beings of Gnostic teaching.^[2][5][6][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A century, or a span of time.^[8]

Related words

• aevum
• English eon

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ a b c d 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