Etymologically
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articulus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [arˈtɪ.kʊ.ɫʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [arˈtiː.ku.lus][1]

Forms

articulus m (genitive articulī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin artus (“joint, limb”) + -culus.[2][3] De Vaan suggests it was coined as a singular to artus, which was used almost only in the plural.[4] The noun is inherited from Proto-Italic *artu-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r-tú- (“juncture, ordering”).[4] The grammatical sense is a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ἄρθρον (árthron, “joint, article”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] who uses it of a moment: a character knows every point of time for his advantage.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a joint where bones meet, a section of a limb or finger, and a node in a plant.[2] Figuratively it was a point of time, a critical moment, and a division of a speech or subject, a clause or section.[2] In grammar it named pronouns and pronominal adjectives.[2][1] Caesar has the syncopated form articlis, which the Appendix Probi condemns as articlus.[2][6]

In medieval Latin it was an article or paragraph, and also a trick.[7] It survives in Old French arteil, French orteil and Spanish artejo, and was borrowed as French article.[1] English article first meant the separate parts of a written text, such as the articles of the Creed, about 1200.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a point of time.[2][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of joints of the body.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses the syncopated plural articlis.[2][5]
  • c. 1200 – English article is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A joint, knuckle.[2]
  2. A section of a limb or finger.[2]
  3. A joint or node in a plant.[2]
  4. A point of time, a critical moment.[2]
  5. A division of a speech or subject; a clause, section.[2]
  6. (grammar) A pronoun; an article.[2][1]
  7. (Medieval Latin) An article, paragraph.[7]

Word family

  • articulāris
  • articulō
  • articulōsus
  • articulāmentum
  • articulārius
  • articulātē
  • articulātim
  • articulātiō
  • articulātus
  • artus
  • English article
  • English articulate

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com