cyclus

Forms

cyclus m (genitive cyclī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle, wheel”),^[1][2][3] which Köbler and Pokorny trace to Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷlo- (“wheel”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Among its first users is Solinus, who notes that the Greeks call the circle cyclos;^[3][4] Marius Victorinus uses it of the orbit of the sun and moon.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Its general sense was a circle or orbit, as in Martianus Capella's circle of the zodiac.^[3] In Christian chronology it became a cycle of years: Ambrose and Leo the Great write of the Easter cycles, Dionysius Exiguus of the nineteen-year cycle, and Isidore of Seville defines the Easter cycle and the lunar cycle.^[3][2][6] In Late Latin medicine (Caelius Aurelianus, Vegetius' veterinary book) it was a course of treatment given in fixed periods.^[3][2][6]

Medieval Latin kept the senses “orbit of a heavenly body” and “cycle of years”,^[7] and English took cycle in the late 14th century from Old French and directly from Late Latin.^[8]

Timeline

• 1st half of the 3rd century AD – Solinus uses it for a circle.^[3][4]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose writes of Easter cycles.^[3][4]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of a course of treatment.^[3][4]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines the Easter and lunar cycles.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as cycle.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A circle, an orbit.^[3][2][7]
2. (chronology) A cycle, recurring period of years;^[2][6][7] cyclus paschalis, the Easter cycle.^[2][6][7]
3. (medicine) A course of treatment given in fixed periods.^[2][6][3]

Related words

• epicyclus
• hēmicyclus
• cyclicus
• circulus
• English cycle

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com