antiquitus

Pronunciation

• Classical: [anˈtiː.kʷɪ.tʊs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [anˈtiː.kʷi.tus]^[1]

Forms

antīquitus (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin antīquus (“ancient, old”) + -itus.^[2][1] The grammarian Charisius compares dīvīnitus (“from heaven”), formed in the same way from dīvīnus.^[3] De Vaan traces antīquus to Proto-Indo-European *h₂enti-h₃kʷ-o- (“facing the front”), built on the ancestor of ante (“before”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Caesar,^[5] whose Civil War speaks of the Albici, who had been under their protection from of old.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means from of old, from a distant date, and in former times, long ago: Caesar reports that most of the Belgae were descended from the Germans and had been brought across the Rhine long ago.^[2] The TLL notes that Cicero does not use it and that among the poets it does not appear before Silius Italicus.^[3] Köbler finds it often in the early medieval law codes.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 50 BC – Caesar of a long-standing alliance and of an ancient migration.^[2][5]
• 25–101 AD – Silius Italicus is the first poet to use it.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. From of old, from a distant date, since ancient times.^[2][1]
2. In former times, formerly, long ago.^[2][1]

Related words

• antīquus
• dīvīnitus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de