Etymologically
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diurnum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [diˈʊr.nũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [diˈur.num][1]

Forms

diurnum n (genitive diurnī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin diurnus (“of the day, daily”), its neuter used as a noun.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Seneca the Elder's Controversiae, both for a daily ration and for a daybook in which the day's takings are checked.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The ration of a slave is the sense in the younger Seneca and Martial, and in the Digest a son's daily allowance.[2][4] Juvenal uses it for an account book, and in the plural diurna named the official daily record of events at Rome, which Tacitus says was read throughout the provinces.[2][4][3]

In Late Latin the plural meant daily needs in Arnobius, and diurnīs “by day” is set against noctibus in Caelius Aurelianus;[4][3] Wiktionary dates the sense “day” to the 4th century.[1] In Ecclesiastical Latin it is a Book of Hours.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of an account book.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus mentions the diurna populi Romani read in the provinces.[2][6]
  • 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses the plural for daily needs.[4][3][6]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses diurnīs for “by day”.[4][3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A daily ration or allowance.[2][4]
  2. A daybook, account book; a day-to-day record of events.[2][3]
  3. (plural) The official daily gazette of Rome, the diurna populi Rōmānī.[2][4]
  4. (Late Latin, plural) Daily needs.[4][3]
  5. (Late Latin) Day, daytime.[1][4]
  6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A Book of Hours.[5]

Word family

  • diurnarius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de