Etymologically
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glacies

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɡɫa.ki.eːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɡlaː.t͡ʃi.es][1]

Forms

glaciēs f (genitive glaciēī); fifth declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[1][2] It ends in the noun suffix -iēs, and the first part has traditionally been compared with gelū (“frost”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold; to freeze”);[1][3][2] Etymonline takes it as probably a suffixed form of that root.[4] De Vaan, however, notes that although its meaning is the same as that of gelū, it cannot be derived from a root meaning “to be cold” in any meaningful way.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro.[5] It means ice.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is the ordinary word for ice: Lucretius has the sun melting ice, Virgil ice cutting tender feet, Livy slippery ice in the Alps.[6] The plural is also used, as in Virgil and the Vulgate.[6] Lucretius uses it figuratively for the hardness of bronze that melts in the fire.[6][1]

A Vulgar Latin form glacia is recorded in glosses and computistic texts;[2] Etymonline traces French glace to it, the source of English glacier (1744).[4] English glacial (1650s) comes from the adjective glaciālis.[4]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.[5][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of ice melted by the sun.[6][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of slippery ice.[6][7]
  • 1744 – English glacier is recorded, through French.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Ice.[3][6][1]
  2. (figurative) Hardness.[6][1]

Word family

  • gelus
  • gelū
  • English glacier

Usage notes

Lewis & Short compare it with gelū “frost” and pruina “hoarfrost”.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de