apogaeum

Forms

apogaeum n (genitive apogaeī); second declension^[1] Also spelled apogēum^[1] and, in the Middle Ages, apageum.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀπόγειον (apógeion),^[1] the neuter of the adjective ἀπόγειος (apógeios, “from the land; far from the earth”),^[2][3] from ἀπό (apó, “off, away”) and γῆ (gê, “earth”).^[2][3] In astronomy the Greek neuter, with “distance” understood, meant the distance away from the earth.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Folcuin (c. 1050) and in glosses, where it names a cellar or crypt.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin it meant a cellar or crypt,^[4][2] a sense Köbler sets beside that of hypogaeum.^[2] Renaissance and New Latin astronomy used it for the apogee,^[1] the point at which the moon is farthest from the earth;^[3] English took the word in the 1590s, from French apogée or directly from the Latin.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Folcuin uses it for a crypt.^[2]
• 1590s – English apogee, from French or from New Latin apogaeum.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A cellar, crypt.^[4][2]
2. (New Latin, astronomy) The apogee.^[1][3]

Related words

• English apogee

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill