antiae

Forms

antiae f pl (genitive antiārum); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Italic *anti (“before, in front of”), the adverb that became ante.^[2] De Vaan regards it as a recent nominalization that presupposes an adjective formed from that adverb; it keeps the original final /i/, which became /e/ in the adverb itself.^[2] The adverb continues Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent-i, the locative of a root noun *h₂ent- (“front”).^[2] Wiktionary gives the adjective as *h₂entíos,^[1] and the OLD compares Ancient Greek ἀντίος (antíos, “facing, opposite”).^[3] The TLL derives it instead from an old noun ⟨ant-⟩ meaning “forehead”.^[4]

Ancient grammarians thought it Greek: the epitome of Festus explains it from the Greek word for “opposite”, and Isidore derives it from the Greek word for the ears.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it first in Apuleius (c. 125–175 AD),^[2][5] who uses it in the Florida of the locks of Apollo.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare and always plural.^[3][4] The epitome of Festus defines it as women's hair let down over the forehead,^[6][4] and Tertullian applies it to the mane of lions.^[6][7] Isidore of Seville describes the antiae instead as curls hanging down near the ears.^[4]

Medieval Latin kept the word, also spelled anthiae and antiae, for hair hanging over the forehead;^[8] Aldhelm uses it of locks on the forehead and temples curled with a curling iron.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius speaks of Apollo's forelocks.^[6][7][5]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a lion's mane.^[6][7][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville describes the antiae as curls near the ears.^[4][5]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm writes of curled locks over the forehead.^[8][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (plural only) Locks of hair hanging over the forehead, forelocks.^[3][6][1]
2. The mane of a lion.^[6][7]
3. (Late Latin) Curls hanging beside the ears.^[4]

Related words

• antīquus

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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
7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften