antelucanus

Forms

antelūcānus (feminine antelūcāna, neuter antelūcānum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Also written antil-.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ante (“before”) + lūx (“light”) + -ānus.^[2][3][4] Priscian explains it as a compound of lucanus, formed from the word for light.^[5] De Vaan traces the noun to Proto-Italic *louk- (“light”) and Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“light”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Varro and Cicero on, meaning “before daybreak”:^[5][7] Varro speaks of the hours before dawn in winter (hieme antelucanis temporibus).^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a word of prose.^[8] Cicero writes of work begun before dawn and of dinners that went on all night until daybreak (cenae antelucanae),^[8][7] Columella of study before daylight, and the Vulgate of the dew before dawn.^[8] Seneca uses the neuter antelucanum as a noun for the time before dawn, and Macrobius uses it as an adverb, “at dawn”.^[7]

In Medieval Latin the neuter plural named matins, and the feminine was a name for the lark;^[9] Köbler also records a medieval masculine noun for a morning mass.^[4] It lives on in Italian antelucano.^[7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of the hours before dawn in winter.^[5][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of dinners lasting until dawn.^[8][7][4]
• 1st century AD – Columella writes of study before daylight.^[8]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses the neuter as a noun for the time before dawn.^[7]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate speaks of the dew before dawn.^[8]
• first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses the neuter as an adverb.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Before dawn, before daybreak.^[2][8][10]
2. Lasting until dawn.^[8][7]

Noun

1. (antelūcānum) The time before dawn.^[7][3][9]
2. (Medieval Latin, neuter plural) Matins.^[9]
3. (Medieval Latin, masculine) A morning mass.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin, feminine) The lark.^[9]

Word family

• antelucanum

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson