Etymologically
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aurora

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [au̯ˈroː.ra][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [au̯ˈrɔː.ra][1]

Forms

aurōra f (genitive aurōrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ausōs (“dawn”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éus-ōs (“dawn”), extended with the feminine ending ⟨-a⟩, probably because the old word was feminine.[2][1] The /s/ between vowels became /r/, as regularly in Latin, giving *aurōs, *aurōrem.[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit उषस् (uṣás-, “dawn”), Avestan ušah- (“dawn”) and Ancient Greek ἠώς (ēṓs, “dawn”).[2][3]

Varro explained it as the time before sunrise when the air turns golden, aurescit, from the sun's fire.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2][6] who has a woman complain of working “from dawn till this hour of the day”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant the dawn, daybreak or sunrise, as in Accius' “I see the dawn reddening far off”.[3] Personified, it was Aurora, the goddess of the dawn and wife of Tithonus, as in Virgil.[3] Poets also used it for the east, the region of the sunrise, as in Virgil's “to follow the dawn to the Indians”.[3][7]

Medieval writers used it figuratively, and Aurora was the title of Peter Riga's verse Bible.[8] Italian, Spanish and Portuguese aurora and French aurore were borrowed from it,[1] and English aurora, “dawn”, is first recorded in the late 14th century.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for daybreak.[3][6]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius writes of the dawn reddening.[3][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro explains the word.[3][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for the goddess and for the east.[3][6]
  • late 14th century – English aurora is first recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The dawn, daybreak.[3][5]
  2. Aurora The goddess of the dawn.[3][1]
  3. The east.[3][7]

Word family

  • aurōrō
  • auster
  • English aurora
  • English east

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  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. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com