Etymologically
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caelifer

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkae̯.lɪ.fɛr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈt͡ʃɛː.li.fer][1]

Forms

caelifer (feminine caelifera, neuter caeliferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin caelum2 (“sky”) + -fer (“bearing”), “sky-bearing”.[2][3][4] The second part is from ferō (“to carry”).[3][4] De Vaan traces caelum to Proto-Italic *kailo- (“sky”) and Proto-Indo-European *keh2i-lo- (“whole”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Virgil uses it first,[6] as an epithet of Atlas (Aeneid 6.796).[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It stayed a poetic epithet, mostly of Atlas, in Statius and Avienus.[3] Germanicus calls the Pleiades daughters of a sky-bearing father.[3] Seneca applies it to the hands of Hercules in the Hercules furens.[4][3] In late Latin Martianus Capella uses it figuratively of praises that raise someone to the sky.[4]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil calls Atlas caelifer.[4][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the hands of Hercules.[4][6]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of Atlas.[3][6]
  • 5th century AD – Martianus Capella speaks of praises that exalt to heaven.[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. That supports the sky or the heavens (of Atlas and Hercules).[2][4]
  2. (figurative) Raising to the heavens, extolling.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de