Etymologically
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ater

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈaː.tɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.ter][1]

Forms

āter (feminine ātra, neuter ātrum, comparative ātrior, superlative āterrimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ātro- (“black”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁-t-r- (“fire, fireplace”).[2][1] Cognate with Umbrian atru (“black”), and further with Old Irish áith (“kiln”) and Avestan 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 (ātar, “fire”).[2][3][1] De Vaan finds a shift from “fiery” to “black” unconvincing, and suggests the adjective first meant “coloured like a fireplace”, sooty.[2] ātrium may belong here if it was first the room with the hearth, as the ancients believed.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who speaks of a black, rainy cloud.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant black or dark-coloured, as Terence's black bread, and dark or devoid of light, of clouds, storms, night and the underworld.[4][6] It was used of blood blackened from wounds, of discoloured teeth, and of smoky flames.[4] The poets used it emotively for gloomy, deadly or ill-omened things.[4]

Its derivative ātrōx “fierce, cruel” gave English atrocious in the 1660s.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of a black rain cloud.[4][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence speaks of black bread.[4][5]
  • 1660s – English atrocious is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Black, dark-coloured.[4]
  2. Dark, gloomy (of clouds, night).[4]
  3. (of blood) Blackened.[4]
  4. Discoloured, stained.[4]
  5. (of flames) Smoky.[4]
  6. Dismal, deadly, ill-omened.[4]

Word family

  • ātrāmentum
  • ātrātus
  • ātricapillus
  • atricolor
  • atritas
  • atritus
  • atrōx
  • atrōcitās
  • atrōciter
  • ātrium
  • English atrocious

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes āter, black as the absence of colour and dismal, opposed to albus, from niger, black as a colour in itself, which can be beautiful, opposed to candidus.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper