Etymologically
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arte

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈar.tɛ], [ˈar.teː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈar.te], [ˈar.te][1]

Forms

artē (comparative artius, superlative artissimē, adjective artus)[1] It is also spelled arctē, a spelling Lewis & Short reject.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin artus (“tight, close”) + -ē.[2][1] De Vaan traces artus to Proto-Italic *arto- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂r-tó- (“fitted”).[4] Cognate with Sanskrit ऋत (ṛtá-, “truthful; truth, agreement”) and Avestan aṣ̌a- (“truth”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius,[4] in a line of his comedies: “too tightly, too tightly am I bound”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means tightly, closely or firmly, of binding, packing and holding: Cato of filling a pastry well and closely, and Plautus' “hold me tight, my darling”.[2] Lucretius uses it of the smallest parts packed closely together, and Livy figuratively of joining the Latin name more closely to Rome.[2] It also means in a narrow space, in war in close order, as Sallust's reserves drawn up more closely, and succinctly.[2] It is used of strict control, as Plautus' mother who keeps a young man on a tight rein, and of stinginess.[2] Of sleep it means soundly, as Plautus' “see how fast they sleep”, and of love, dearly, as Statius' young man most dear to him.[2][1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of tight binding.[2][4][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of close packing.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of close embraces, strict control and sound sleep.[2][5]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of troops in close order.[2][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius of dear affection.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Tightly, closely, firmly; figuratively, closely, of relationships.[2][1]
  2. In a narrow space;[2][1] (military) in close order; succinctly.[2][1]
  3. Strictly, severely; stingily.[2][1]
  4. Of sleep, soundly, deeply; of love, dearly, fondly.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de