diuturnitas

Forms

diūturnitās f (genitive diūturnitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin diūturnus (“lasting, long-lasting”) + -tās.^[2][3] Köbler refers diūturnus to diū (“for a long time”).^[4] De Vaan explains diū as the old locative of the word for "day", going back to Proto-Indo-European *di-eu- (“day; sky”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Cicero and Varro on; the OLD's first example is Varro, who says that seed hardens with the passing of time.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It is first a long lapse of time, and then the quality of lasting long, permanence: Cicero speaks of the long duration of an empire and of peace, and Caesar of a long peace.^[2][6] Vitruvius uses it of the durability of timber, and Valerius Maximus of the long life of kings.^[2] The TLL finds it absent from the poets except Publilius Syrus, and the plural in Arnobius and Augustine.^[3]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of the passing of time.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the long duration of an empire.^[6][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of durable timber.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long lapse of time.^[2][6]
2. Long duration, permanence.^[2][6][1]
3. Of things, durability; of people, longevity, lasting fame.^[2][1]

Related words

• diū

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ 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 c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press