Etymologically
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aequoreus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ae̯ˈkʷɔ.re.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈkʷɔː.re.us][1]

Forms

aequoreus (feminine aequorea, neuter aequoreum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Glosses also have aequorius.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin aequor (“level surface; the sea”) + -eus.[3][2][1] The noun aequor is from aequus (“level, even”), probably from Proto-Italic *aikwos, for which de Vaan finds no convincing etymology.[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is Catullus' “Nereids of the sea”;[3] Köbler dates it from Virgil.[5]

Semantic evolution

The TLL calls it a word of the new poets, much liked by Ovid, and accepted in prose only in the 4th century.[2] It means of or belonging to the sea: Ovid calls Neptune the king of the sea, Virgil uses the sea race for fish, and aequoreus vitulus is a seal.[3][6] Of places it means lying by the sea, and of islands and their people surrounded by the sea, as Ovid's sea-girt Britons.[3][6] Statius uses it of a river's surge that is like the sea.[3] In astronomy Manilius calls Aquarius the “youth of the waters”.[3]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of the Nereids of the sea.[3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of the race of fish.[6][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of Neptune and of the Britons surrounded by the sea.[6][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius of a river surging like the sea.[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or belonging to the sea, marine;[3][6][1] aequoreus vitulus, a seal.[3][6][1]
  2. Lying by the sea; of islands, surrounded by the sea.[3][6]
  3. Like that of the sea.[3]
  4. (astronomy) aequoreus iuvenis: Aquarius.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ 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
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press