chasma

Forms

chasma n (genitive chasmatis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek χάσμα (khásma, “yawning hollow, gulf”),^[2][3][1] from χάσκω (kháskō, “to yawn, gape”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Seneca uses it in the Natural Questions, both for a chasm that opens in the earth and for a kind of meteor, an opening in the sky in which flame appears.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder also has it for the luminous opening in the sky,^[3][5] and the Digest uses it for an opening of the earth.^[3][6] In Medieval Latin it meant an abyss or gulf;^[7] British writers used it for a ruin, and an English glossary equates it with lightning.^[8] English took it over as chasm in the 1590s, often spelled chasma in the 17th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca writes of chasms in the earth and in the sky.^[2][9]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for an opening in the sky.^[3][9]
• 533 AD – The Digest uses it for an opening of the earth.^[3][9]
• 1590s – English borrows it as chasm.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chasm or fissure in the earth, an abyss.^[2][3]
2. A supposed meteoric phenomenon, an opening in the sky in which flame is seen.^[2][3][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) A ruin; lightning.^[8]

Related words

• English chasm

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b 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 c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de