aequor

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈae̯.kʷɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛː.kʷor]^[1]

Forms

aequor n (genitive aequoris); third declension^[1] Varro has the spelling aecor.^[2]

Etymology

It is from aequus “level, flat”.^[2][3][1] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨aequus⟩ as probably ⟨*aikwos⟩, without a convincing etymology.^[4] Wiktionary suggests that the shift to “sea” may have been helped by the unrelated aqua.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Ennius, and the OLD's earliest citation is Accius, of a level surface.^[5][2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC and Accius 170–c. 90 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant any smooth or level surface; a level stretch of ground, a plain, as in Varro and Cicero; above all in poetry the sea, especially as calm and flat; and in Ovid the waters of a river.^[2][6] Lewis & Short note that it is mostly poetic, found only once in Cicero and once in Sallust.^[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means the sea.^[8] British Medieval Latin used it for a plain and the sea.^[9]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^[5]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of a level surface.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a plain and of the sea.^[2][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a river.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A level surface, expanse.^[2]
2. A plain.^[2][6]
3. (chiefly poetic) The sea.^[2][8]
4. The waters of a river.^[2]

Word family

• aequoreus

Related words

• aequus
• aequō

Usage notes

Isidore of Seville derived aequor from aqua and also explained it as the sea that settles level again after storms.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).