ara

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈaː.ra]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.ra]^[1]

Forms

āra f (genitive ārae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *āsā- (“altar”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁s-h₂- (“hearth”), with ⟨r⟩ from intervocalic /s/.^[2] Old Latin had āsa.^[3][2] De Vaan explains that the meaning shifted from hearth to altar in Proto-Italic.^[2] Cognate with Oscan aasaí (“at the altar”), Umbrian asa (“altar”), Hittite hāšša- (“hearth”) and Sanskrit आस (ā́sa, “ashes”), and with English ash.^[2][3][1] Lewis and Short derived it from a root “to sit”, which de Vaan does not follow.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the laws of the kings and Plautus.^[2] A law ascribed to Numa forbids a concubine to touch the altar of Juno, using the form asam.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It was an altar, usually built for a particular god, and also an altar on a tomb.^[3][5] The phrase ārae et focī “altars and hearths” stood for home and religion.^[5] The plural appears in place names, such as Ara Ubiorum on the Rhine, and Āra was the constellation Altar.^[3][5] Figuratively it was a refuge or protection, as in Cicero's “altar of the laws”, and in Cato a raised base for machinery.^[3]

In medieval British Latin it was used of pagan, Jewish and Christian altars.^[6] It was borrowed into Italian ara and Spanish ara.^[1]

Timeline

• leges regiae – a law of Numa uses the form asa.^[3][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][5][7]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a base for an oil press.^[3][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the altar of the laws.^[3][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An altar, ārae et focī, altars and hearths, home.^[3][5]
2. (in place names) Arae.^[3]
3. The constellation Ara.^[3]
4. A refuge, protection.^[3]
5. A raised base (for machinery).^[3]

Word family

• arula

Related words

• āreō
• assus
• English ash

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de