diluculum

Forms

dīlūculum n (genitive dīlūculī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dīlūceō (“to be light, dawn”) + -ulum.^[2][3] The TLL derives it from dīlūcēscō (“to grow light”).^[4] Both verbs are compounds of lūceō (“to shine”), which de Vaan derives from lūx (“light”), from Proto-Italic *louk- and Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“light”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Plautus on,^[5] who uses primulo diluculo “at the very first light”.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

It is the first light of day, dawn, the opposite of crepusculum, the evening twilight.^[3][7] The ablative dīlūculō meant “at daybreak”, as in Cicero's primo diluculo.^[2][7] Ancient writers on the divisions of the day defined it: Censorinus as the time when it is already light but the sun has not yet risen, Macrobius as the time when day begins to be made out.^[4] The TLL notes that the genitive is found only three times, in the Vulgate and later writers; otherwise only the nominative, accusative and ablative were in use.^[4] Fronto has a poetic plural.^[3][4]

The Vulgate uses it in the Gospel of Luke.^[3] In Ecclesiastical and Medieval Latin it remained the word for dawn;^[8][9] Bede uses it.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses primulo diluculo.^[6][10]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses primo diluculo “at first light”.^[7][10]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the Gospel of Luke.^[3][10]
• 1st half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius defines it as a division of the day.^[4][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Dawn, daybreak.^[2][3]
2. (ablative as adverb) dīlūculō: at daybreak.^[2][7]

Word family

• dīlūculat

Related words

• crepusculum

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de