flexura

Forms

flexūra f (genitive flexūrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin flectō (“to bend”) + -ūra.^[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨flectō⟩ as Proto-Italic *flek-t-, perhaps with a suffix ⟨*-t-⟩ on the model of ⟨plectō⟩; the root has no obvious Indo-European cognates.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Lucretius, of the bending of the side (lateris).^[4][5] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a bending, winding, turning, as in Lucretius, Seneca and Suetonius, and in grammar the inflection of a word, as in Varro, and Lewis & Short call it rare and not in Cicero.^[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a bend, turning.^[6] British Medieval Latin used it for curvature and for a curve or curved object.^[7]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.^[5][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in grammar.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bending, turning.^[2]
2. (grammar) Inflection.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A curve, curvature.^[7]

Related words

• flectō
• flexus
• flexiō

References

1. ^ a b 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ 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