citerior

Forms

citerior (neuter citerius, genitive citeriōris); comparative, third declension; superlative citimus^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a comparative, from Latin citer (“on this side, nearer”), which is itself formed on cis (“on this side of”).^[1][2] De Vaan says that the older series was ⟨cis⟩, ⟨citer⟩, ⟨citimus⟩, and that ⟨citerior⟩ is a more recent remake of ⟨citer⟩; he traces the base to Proto-Italic *ki (“here, by”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱi (“this here”).^[2] Cognate with Umbrian çimu (“back”), Hittite ki- (“this”) and Lithuanian šìs (“this”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL calls it a prose word, found from Varro and Cicero on;^[3] Varro has it of Hither Spain in his work on farming.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It means the nearer of two, the nearer part, and is used in the names of the provinces Hispānia citerior and Gallia citerior, Hither Spain and Hither Gaul, as in Cicero's report that Sextus Pompeius had fled into Hither Spain.^[1][3] In time it means sooner or earlier, and of events nearer to the present, later; it also means more immediate or urgent, closer to one's own experience, as Cicero's “these things nearer home”, and lesser in degree, as in a declamation attributed to Quintilian, “the punishment is less than the crime”.^[1] The TLL notes that Seneca the Elder, Curtius, Columella and Petronius do not use it.^[3]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of Hither Spain.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the provinces and of matters nearer home.^[1][2][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of the nearer part of a curve.^[1][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the peoples of Hither Spain.^[1][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Nearer, on this side; the nearer part of.^[1][5]
2. In names of provinces, Hither: Hispānia citerior, Gallia citerior; of Hither Spain.^[1][3]
3. Sooner, earlier; nearer to the present, later; more immediate, more urgent.^[1]
4. Closer to one's own experience, nearer home.^[1]
5. Lesser in degree.^[1]

Related words

• cis
• citrā
• citimus
• ulterior

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press