constellatio

Forms

cōnstēllātiō f (genitive cōnstēllātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin con- + stēlla (“star”) + -ātiō.^[2][3] The noun stēlla goes back to Proto-Italic *stērlā-, which de Vaan takes as an Italo-Celtic formation whose root is Proto-Indo-European *h₂ster- (“star”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Firmicus Maternus, in his 4th-century handbook of astrology, uses it for the position of the stars that was held to shape human fate.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it was a word of astrology: the arrangement of the stars at the moment of someone's birth, and so a horoscope.^[6][3][7] Augustine, arguing against belief in fate, explains that people call the noting of the stars' positions at a birth constellationes.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it kept the astrological sense^[8][9] and also named a group of stars, a constellation in the modern sense, and a chance coming together of circumstances.^[10][5] English took it over, partly through Old French, first for the position of a planet in the zodiac.^[11]

Timeline

• 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus uses it in his astrological work.^[3][5]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus speaks of casting the emperor's horoscope (constellationem principis colligere).^[12][7][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine explains the constellationes of the astrologers.^[2][5]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm writes in his verse on virginity: si fors aut fatum seu constellatio quicquam est (“if chance or fate or the stars are anything”).^[9][5]
• early 14th century – English borrows it as constellation for the position of a planet.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (astrology) The position of the stars at a person's birth, thought to govern their fate; a horoscope.^[6][3][7][8]
2. (Medieval Latin) A group of stars, a constellation.^[10]
3. (Medieval Latin) A chance coincidence of circumstances.^[10][5]

Related words

• English constellation

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.