astralis

Forms

astrālis (neuter astrāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin astrum + -ālis, from the word for a star.^[1][2] The noun itself comes from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Augustine (354–430 AD)^[4] has it in the City of God, of fates thought to be revealed by the stars: astralia fata.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It was a rare Late Latin adjective meaning “of the stars”.^[5][1] The TLL also cites astrales in Avienus' translation of Aratus, but that is Grotius' emendation of the transmitted australes.^[2] Sisebut speaks of the rays of the stars, radiis astralibus.^[2][7] English took it about 1600 as astral, “pertaining to the stars”.^[3]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – Augustine writes of astralia fata, fates revealed by the stars.^[5][4]
• c. 1600 – English borrows it as astral.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) Of or relating to the stars; astral.^[5][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) Caused by the stars.^[7]

Related words

• English astral

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften