Etymologically
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diluculum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [diːˈɫuː.kʊ.ɫũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [diˈluː.ku.lum][1]

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

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