aquarium

Forms

aquārium n (genitive aquāriī or aquārī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aquārius (“of water”), used as a noun in the neuter.^[2][3] The adjective is formed from aqua (“water”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato (234–149 BC) uses it in his work on agriculture for a reservoir or watering place.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a source of water, a watering place for animals.^[2][4][3] Medieval Latin used it for a canal or water channel, which a charter of Louis the Pious calls by this name,^[6][7] and the statutes of Marseille for a sink or drain.^[7] The TLL lists Italian acquaio and French évier among its Romance continuants.^[8]

English took it as a noun in 1830 for an artificial pond for water plants, and by 1853 for a glass tank in which water animals are kept.^[3]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for a reservoir or watering place.^[4][5]
• 1830 – English uses it for an artificial pond for water plants.^[3]
• 1853 – English uses it for a tank for living water animals.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A source of water; a reservoir or watering place.^[2][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) A canal, water channel.^[6][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) A sink or drain.^[7]

Related words

• English aquarium

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 c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
8. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften