Etymologically
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aeon

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈae̯.oːn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛː.on][1]

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]

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