Etymologically
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caelum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkae̯.ɫũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛː.lum][1]

Forms

caelum n or m (genitive caelī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kailo- (“sky”).[2] De Vaan derives it from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂i-lo- (“whole”), the root of English whole, and Wiktionary explains this as an augural word for the whole sky as opposed to the templum, the part marked out.[2][1] The OLD and TLL call the origin uncertain.[3][4] Oscan kaíla, a kind of building, may belong here if it meant “vaulted”.[2] Ancient grammarians derived it from caelātum “engraved”, because the sky is studded with stars like an engraved vessel.[5] Aelius, quoted by Varro, also suggested cēlātum “hidden”, by contraries.[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius, and Ennius has a shortened cael.[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

It was the sky seen as a dome over the earth, the place from which weather and portents come, the region of the stars, and the home of the gods.[3] It could mean the climate or the air, and dē caelō servāre meant to watch the sky for omens.[3] Figurative phrases include in caelum ferre “to praise to the skies” and in caelō esse “to be in seventh heaven”.[3] As a name, Caelus or Caelum was the god of the sky.[3]

The plural is always the masculine caelī.[2] In Christian Latin it was heaven, and in medieval Latin also a vault, ceiling or canopy.[8] Its derivatives include caelestis “heavenly”, the source of English celestial, and caeruleus “sky-blue”, from *caelulus.[2][9] It survives in Italian cielo and French ciel.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of the great halls of heaven.[3][7]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro reports Aelius' etymology from caelātum.[6][7]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains it from caelātum “engraved”.[5][7]
  • late 14th century – English celestial is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The sky, the vault of heaven.[3]
  2. The heavens, with the stars and the zodiac.[3]
  3. heaven, the home of the gods.[3]
  4. The air, climate, caelum patēns, the open air.[3]
  5. Caelum, Caelus, the god of the sky.[3]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A vault, ceiling; a canopy.[8]

Word family

  • caeles
  • caelestīnus
  • caelestis
  • caelicola
  • caelicus
  • caelifer
  • caelifluus
  • caeligenus
  • caeliger
  • caeliloquus
  • caelipotēns

Usage notes

A different noun caelum “chisel, graving tool” belongs with caelō “to engrave”.[3][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press