Etymologically
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feriae

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfeː.ri.ae̯][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɛː.ri.e][1]

Forms

fēriae f pl (genitive fēriārum); first declension[1] Festus gives the older form fēsiae.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fēs-io- (“holiday”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-s-io- (“divine, holy”), from an s-stem Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁s- (“religious gift, rite”).[2][1] fēstus “festive” is from the same stem.[2][3] Cognate with Oscan fiísíais (“holidays”), Ancient Greek θεός (theós, “god”) and Old Armenian դիք (dikʿ, “gods”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it, listing play, fun and holidays together.[3][2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a religious festival or holy day, as Cato's days on which oxen may still be yoked, and the fēriae Latīnae, the Latin festival.[3][5] From that it was a day of rest, a holiday, leisure, and in Cicero fēriae forēnsēs, the vacation of the courts.[3][5]

Festus has a singular fēria.[6] Through Vulgar Latin *fēria “holiday, market” and Old French feire it gave English fair “market”.[7] It survives as Italian fiera and French foire.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato says oxen may be yoked on holy days.[3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the vacation of the courts.[5][4]
  • early 14th century – English fair “market” is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A religious festival, holy day.[3][1]
  2. A day of rest, holiday, leisure; a vacation.[3][1]

Word family

  • fēriātus
  • fērior
  • fēria
  • fēriāticus
  • fānum
  • fērālis
  • fēstus
  • English fair
  • English festival

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com