Etymologically
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aliquamdiu

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Forms

aliquamdiū (not comparable)[1][2] Also spelled aliquandiū.[1][3] It is sometimes written separately.[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aliquam + diū (“for a long time”).[1][2][4] The TLL divides it instead as ali- with quamdiū (“how long”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the TLL date it from Cicero, whose speeches against Verres have it.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It means for some time, for a considerable time.[1][2] Pomponius Mela transfers it from time to space, from a traveller's point of view: a cave is clear for a good way, and the Rhône separates the Gauls for a considerable distance.[1] Manuscripts often spell it aliquandiū, as the palimpsest of Fronto and almost always the Memmianus of Suetonius, while a bronze edict of Claudius has aliquamdiū.[3] Church Latin glosses it for a little while.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero.[3][4]
  • 1st century AD – Pomponius Mela of distance.[1]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. For some time, for a considerable time, for a while.[1][2][5]
  2. For a considerable distance.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson