bivius

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈbɪ.wi.ʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbiː.vi.us]^[1]

Forms

bivius (feminine bivia, neuter bivium, adverb biviē); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from bi- “two” and via “road, way”, with the suffix ⟨-ius⟩.^[1][2][3][4] De Vaan traces ⟨via⟩ to Proto-Italic *wijā- (“road”), from Proto-Indo-European *wih₁-eh₂- (“pursuit”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Virgil's Aeneid, biviae faucēs “a pass with two ways”.^[2][3][4] Köbler dates Virgil 70–19 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant having two ways or passages, traversable both ways, and Lewis & Short call it rare and not in Cicero, citing Virgil and Valerius Flaccus.^[6][2] Inscriptions have biviī diī, gods worshipped at a crossroads; the noun bivius “crossroads god” comes from the ellipsis of bivius deus.^[3][1]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having two ways; traversable both ways.^[6][2]

Noun

1. A god of the crossroads.^[3][1]

Word family

• bivia
• bivium

Related words

• quadriviālis
• quadrivium
• quadrivius
• trivia
• triviālis
• triviāliter
• triviātim
• trivium
• trivius
• via

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press