Etymologically
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geometria

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɡe.oːˈmɛ.tri.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [d͡ʒe.oˈmɛː.tri.a][1]

Forms

geōmetria f (genitive geōmetriae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek γεωμετρία (geōmetría, “geometry, land survey”),[2][1][3] from γῆ (gê, “earth, land”) and μετρέω (metréō, “to measure”).[1] Köbler takes the second part back to Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”).[3] Cicero names it among the Greek words that Latin had taken over and made its own,[4] and Cassiodorus renders it in Latin as “measuring of the earth”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Cicero on,[4][3] who in De oratore says that geometry deals with lines, figures, intervals and magnitudes.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Vitruvius says that geometry teaches the use of the compasses and the rule.[4] Boethius and Cassiodorus define it as the study of immobile magnitude and of forms.[4] In British medieval Latin it is geometry as one of the liberal arts, as in Alcuin, the title of Euclid's book, and Geometry personified.[6] English geometry came from it through Old French in the early 14th century.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the subject of lines and figures.[5][4][3]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius, of the compasses and the rule.[4][3]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus, defining it.[4][3]
  • c. 803 – Alcuin, of Pythagoras teaching geometry.[6]
  • early 14th century – English geometry, through Old French.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Geometry.[2][5][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Euclid's book on geometry;[6] Geometry personified.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d 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
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com