Etymologically
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angulus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈaŋ.ɡʊ.ɫʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaŋ.ɡu.lus][1]

Forms

angulus m (genitive angulī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ang(e)lo-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eng-(e)lo- (“corner”).[2][1] Cognate with Umbrian anglome (“into the corner”), Old Armenian անկիւն (ankiwn, “corner”), Old Church Slavonic ѫгълъ (ǫgŭlŭ, “corner”) and Old High German anchal (“ankle”).[2][3] The root is close in form and meaning to *h₂enk- “to bend” of ancus and Ancient Greek ἀγκύλος (ankýlos, “bent”), but neither can be derived regularly from the other.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, who has something hidden in the kitchen, in the corner on the left.[2][4][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a corner, the junction of two edges or surfaces, as Caesar's raft anchored at its four corners, and the corner of a room or building.[3] In geometry it was an angle, acute or obtuse in Lucretius and Pliny.[5][3] Figuratively it was a small, remote part of a country, a nook or retired place, as opposed to public life, as Cicero speaks of youths drawn from every corner.[3][6]

The Appendix Probi censures the syncopated anglus.[7] It survives in French angle and Romanian unghi, and English angle came from French and Latin in the late 14th century, with English triangle from triangulum.[1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of a corner of the kitchen.[3][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar has a raft anchored at its four corners.[3][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of an obtuse angle.[5][4]
  • late 14th century – English angle and triangle are recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An angle (in geometry).[3]
  2. A corner, the junction of two edges or surfaces.[3]
  3. The corner of a room or building.[3]
  4. A remote part of a country; a nook, a retired place.[3][6]

Word family

  • angellus
  • angulāris
  • angulārius
  • angulātim
  • angulatus
  • angulō
  • angulōsus
  • quadriangulus
  • triangulus
  • directiangulus
  • multangulus
  • obtūsiangulus
  • ancus
  • English angle
  • English triangle

Usage notes

Isidore explains it as the place where two walls are joined.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Appendix Probi, a late antique list of correct and censured Latin word forms ("calida non calda"); ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini IV, Leipzig 1864, 197–199.
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).