Etymologically
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cyclus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈky.kɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈt͡ʃiː.klus][1]

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]

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