Etymologically
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aries

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈa.ri.eːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.ri.es][1]

Forms

ariēs m (genitive arietis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ariēts, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁r-i-(e)t- (“a domestic animal”).[2][1] Cognate with Umbrian erietu (“ram (accusative)”), Old Irish heirp (“she-goat, doe”) and Ancient Greek ἔριφος (ériphos, “kid”), and perhaps Old Armenian որոջ (oroǰ, “lamb”).[2][3][4] De Vaan argues that the long /ē/ of the nominative was original, since *-iet- would otherwise have given *arīt-.[2] Varro reports that some derived it from āra “altar”, and Isidore of Seville from the Greek name of Mars or from the altars on which rams were sacrificed.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant a ram, the male sheep, and the sign of the zodiac Aries, as in Cicero's translation of Aratus.[3][8] In war it was the battering ram, as Caesar and Cicero use it, and Caesar also used it of a prop or buttress for a bridge.[3] Pliny the Elder names a large sea creature so.[3][8] In poetry it is sometimes scanned as two syllables, āriĕtis.[3] The Appendix Probi corrects ariex to ariēs.[9]

In Medieval Latin it was the ram and the zodiac sign, and in Poland a due paid in rams.[10][11] An older and a newer Proto-Romance form survive in Corsican and in Romanian arete “ram”.[12] English has had Aries as the name of the constellation since late Old English.[13]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][7]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a ram.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the zodiac sign and of the battering ram.[3][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the battering ram.[8][7]
  • late Old English – English Aries is recorded.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A ram (male sheep).[3]
  2. The zodiac sign Aries.[3]
  3. A large sea creature.[3]
  4. (military) A battering ram.[3]
  5. A prop, buttress.[3]

Word family

  • arietārius
  • arietillus
  • arietīnus
  • arietō
  • arvix
  • English Aries

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
  6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Appendix Probi, a late antique list of correct and censured Latin word forms ("calida non calda"); ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini IV, Leipzig 1864, 197–199.
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  12. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com