Etymologically
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descensus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːsˈkẽː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deʃˈʃɛn.sus][1]

Forms

dēscēnsus m (genitive dēscēnsūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēscendō (“to descend”) + -tus, a verbal noun of the fourth declension.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Hirtius, Sallust and Varro on.[4] Köbler's first source is Varro,[5] who uses it of the bull getting down from the cow after mating.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it rare and note that Cicero and Caesar do not use it.[3] It meant the act of going down, as in Sallust, and a way down: Hirtius has a steep and difficult descent, Virgil the famous facilis dēscēnsus Avernō, and Pliny the Elder the descent to Jupiter's cave.[3][6] Manuscripts often spell it discēnsus.[4]

Later authors widened it: Ammianus uses it of the setting of stars, the commentator Porphyrio of passing to another subject, and Eucherius of a falling away from the faith.[6] The Vulgate speaks of the descent of the mount.[3] In medieval Latin it was a voyage down a river, a waterfall, and a stay or lodging owed to a traveller.[7]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a bull getting down after mating.[2][5]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of going down.[3][6][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Hirtius uses it of a steep way down.[3][6][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil writes facilis dēscēnsus Avernō.[3][6][5]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of the setting of stars.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A descent, a going down; a getting down (from a position).[2][3]
  2. A way down, a descending path.[3][6]
  3. (Late Latin) The setting (of a star); a passing to another subject; a falling away from the faith.[6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A voyage downstream; a waterfall; a night's lodging.[7]

Usage notes

Facilis dēscēnsus Avernō, “the descent to Avernus is easy”, from the Aeneid (6.126), became proverbial.[3][6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill