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desubtus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word desubtus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
3rd century AD, Itinerarium Antonini
Ultimate origin
Latin subtus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin de
French de
Italian da
Italian di
Italian dove
Latin desubtus
French dessous
From the same root
Latin deante ← de
Latin deforis ← de
Latin deinter ← de
Latin deintro ← de
Latin deintus ← de
Latin denuo ← de
Latin deretro ← de
Latin desuper ← de
Latin desursum ← de
French davantage ← de
French debout ← de
French devant ← de
Italian dappertutto ← da
Italian davvero ← da

Forms

dēsubtus (adverb and preposition, with the accusative or ablative).[1][2] It is also written dē subtus and dēsuptus.[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē + subtus (“below”), a Late Latin compound often written ⟨de subtus⟩.[6][4][7] Köbler refers it to dēsub.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Itinerarium Antonini, which he dates to the 3rd century AD.[3] The dictionaries quote the 4th century: Hilary of Poitiers uses it as a preposition with the ablative and the Mulomedicina Chironis with the accusative, meaning “under”.[1][8][3]

Semantic evolution

It is used as an adverb (“below”) in the Opus imperfectum on Matthew.[8] In Medieval Latin it was common in charters and descriptions of boundaries, as an adverb meaning “below, underneath” or “from below”, and as a preposition meaning “under”; it is often paired with dēsuper “above”.[9][4][7] British writers also used it for “here below, on earth”.[6] It was still used by Witelo and Copernicus.[10] Niermeyer derives French dessous from it.[9]

Timeline

  • 3rd century AD – Köbler's first source, the Itinerarium Antonini.[3]
  • c. 315–367 AD – Hilary of Poitiers uses it as a preposition with the ablative.[1][2][3]
  • 4th century AD – The Mulomedicina Chironis uses it with the accusative.[1][8][3]
  • 877 – A charter from Alaó in Catalonia uses de subtus of the lower side of a piece of land.[7]
  • 1372/1373 – A document from Sopron speaks of mills with eight wheels turning beneath.[5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Below, underneath.[9][4][6][1]
  2. From below.[9][4]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Here below, on earth.[6]

Preposition

  1. (with the accusative, rarely the ablative) Under, below.[1][8][4][9]
  2. (with the ablative) From beneath.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  2. ^ a b VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
  6. ^ a b c d e 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
  7. ^ a b c Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
  8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Desubtus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/desubtus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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