Etymologically
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austeritas

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [au̯sˈteː.rɪ.taːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [au̯sˈtɛː.ri.tas][1]

Forms

austēritās f (genitive austēritātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin austērus (“sour, harsh; severe”) + -tās.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from the younger Seneca and Columella on;[3] Lewis & Short think it perhaps not earlier than the age of Augustus.[4] Columella uses it of the sourness of grapes that never sweeten.[2]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder uses it of the harsh taste of wine, onions and pitch, and of colour, for a dark, sombre tone that tones down bright pigments.[4][2] Figuratively it is sternness: Quintilian wants a teacher's strictness not to be gloomy, and Pliny the Younger uses it in a letter.[2][4] The Vulgate has it of ruling harshly.[4] In Ecclesiastical Latin it is austerity or rigour,[5] and in medieval Latin also steadiness or strength.[6]

Timeline

  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of the sourness of grapes.[2][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of taste and of colour.[4][7]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a teacher's strictness.[2][7]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of harsh rule.[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Sourness, bitterness, astringency; of weather, rigour.[2][4]
  2. Of colour, sombreness, depth.[2][4]
  3. Severity, strictness, sternness, austerity.[2][4][5]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Steadiness, strength.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de