Etymologically
Log in

fastigium

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [fasˈtiː.ɡi.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fasˈtiː.d͡ʒi.um][1]

Forms

fastīgium n (genitive fastīgiī or fastīgī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from a stem *farsti-, from Proto-Italic *farstjagjom, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰérstis, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰers- (“tip, point”).[2][1][3] Cognate with Sanskrit भृष्टि (bhṛṣṭi, “point”), Old English byrst (“bristle”) and Middle Irish brostaim (“I goad”).[2][1] The TLL derives it from the verb fastīgō “to slope to a point”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Lucretius, whom he dates 96–55 BC.[3] The OLD's earliest citations for most senses are from Cicero and Caesar.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a point, tip, apex, a tapering, a slope, as in Caesar, and especially a gabled roof, its triangular front, the pediment, as in Cicero, and an ornament on a temple roof, as in Livy.[2] It meant the top of any structure, a summit, and in Quintilian figuratively the peak of an activity or its chief point.[2] It also meant a height or level, even a depth, as in Varro, and in Livy rank or dignity, almost always high.[2] Döderlein explains that culmen is the ridge of a roof, fastīgium its highest point, where the slopes meet in an angle.[5] Cicero speaks of putting a fastīgium on a work as its finishing touch.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant height, summit, gable.[7] In British Medieval Latin it was also a heraldic chevron.[8] Old French faîte “ridge” comes partly from it.[1]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a summit.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a pediment.[2][3]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a slope.[2][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of rank.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A point, tip, apex; a tapering.[2]
  2. A slope, fastīgiō, sloping.[2]
  3. A gabled roof, pediment, gable; a roof ornament.[2]
  4. The top, summit; the peak, chief point.[2]
  5. Height, level; depth.[2]
  6. Rank, dignity.[2]
  7. (Medieval Latin, heraldry) A chevron.[8]

Word family

  • sēmifastīgium

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 j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ 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