Etymologically
Log in

divus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word divus

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*deywós)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈdiː.wʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdiː.vus][1]

Forms

dīvus (feminine dīva, neuter dīvum, comparative magis dīvus, superlative maximē dīvus or dīvissimus or dīvissumus, adverb dīvē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It continues Old Latin deivos, from Proto-Italic *deiwos, Proto-Indo-European *deywós (“god”), the same source as deus.[1][2] Inscriptions spell it ⟨deivos⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.[3] Naevius has the adjective.[4]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it meant divine, of a god, as in Naevius and Cicero, mostly archaic and poetic.[5][4] As a noun it meant a god, as in Plautus, Terence, Lucretius and Livy, with a name in apposition, as in Lucretius, and especially a deified emperor, as dīvus Iūlius in Virgil.[2][4] The neuter sub dīvō meant “in the open air”.[4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant divine, holy, and as a noun a saint.[6] In Medieval Latin sub dīvō still meant in the open air, and it meant radiance.[7] Italian divo and diva are borrowings, and Köbler traces German Diva to it.[1][3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of gods.[3][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of gods.[4][3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a deified emperor.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Divine.[5][4]

Noun

  1. A god; a deified emperor.[2]
  2. sub dīvō, in the open air.[4]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A saint.[6]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Divus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/divus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·