alienum

Forms

aliēnum n (genitive aliēnī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of aliēnus (“belonging to another”) used as a noun.^[1][2] ⟨Aliēnus⟩ is formed from alius (“other”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *aljo- (“another”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-yo- (“another”), cognate with Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) and Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌹𐍃 (aljis, “other”); he finds the suffix of ⟨aliēnus⟩ unexplained.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is Naevius, of what belonged to others: “as much of others' property as I had”.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

It is the property or land of others, and in Tacitus foreign soil.^[1] The plural aliēna is other people's affairs, as Terence's “that they see and judge others' affairs better than their own”, and the views of others, as Cicero's Epicurus who said what others had said on physics.^[1] Horace uses the plural of foreign matter, and Ovid's aliēna loquī is to rave in delirium.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of others' property.^[1][2]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of others' affairs.^[1][2]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of raving.^[1][2]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of foreign soil.^[1][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Another's property or land; foreign soil.^[1]
2. (plural) The affairs or views of others.^[1]
3. (plural) Foreign matter.^[1]
4. aliēna loquī, to rave (in delirium).^[1]

Related words

• aliēnus
• alius
• suum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill