hebdomada

Forms

hebdomada f (genitive hebdomadae); first declension^[1] Medieval spellings include ⟨ebdomada⟩, ⟨epdomada⟩, ⟨edomada⟩ and ⟨hebdomeda⟩.^[2][3] Third-declension forms of ⟨hebdomas⟩ occur beside it.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἑβδομάς (hebdomás, “the number seven; a week”),^[1][2][3] itself from ἑπτά (heptá, “seven”).^[1][5] Lewis & Short, Georges and Gaffiot treat it as a by-form of hebdomas, and the TLL gives both in one article:^[6][7][8][9] Cicero already has the Greek accusative ⟨hebdomada⟩, while first-declension forms are found from Gellius and Tertullian on.^[9][10] Isidore of Seville explains the name from the number of seven days, after the Greek word for seven.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gellius is its first author: he reports that Varro said he had entered his twelfth hebdomada of years and had written seventy hebdomadēs of books, and he uses it for the critical seventh days of an illness.^{[10][6][7][2]}

Semantic evolution

In Christian Latin it was above all the week.^[6][7][12] The Vulgate has it in Genesis, implē hebdomadam diērum huius cōpulae, “complete the week of this marriage”, and in Exodus;^[6][7] Jerome uses it in his letters.^[7] Isidore notes that the Latin name for it is septimāna, as if “seven lights”.^[11]

Medieval writers kept the senses “a group of seven” and “a period of seven years”, and above all “a week”:^[3][2] a Hungarian decree of about 1010 orders anyone who breaks the Ember fasts to fast shut away for a week,^[4] and Catalan charters date by the week of the month.^[13] Hebdomada sāncta, magna or maior was Holy Week, and hebdomada rogātiōnum the fifth week after Easter.^[4] In monasteries it also named a week's turn of duty.^[14][15]

Timeline

• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of groups of seven and of the seventh days of an illness.^[10][2]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian has first-declension forms.^[9][2]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a week.^[6][7][2]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains its name.^[11][2]
• c. 1010 – A Hungarian decree sets a week's fast as a penance.^[4]
• 1057 – A charter from Urgell is dated by the week of the month.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. The number seven; a group of seven (years, books).^[6][7][8][3]
2. A period of seven days, a week.^{[6][7][12][1]}
3. (Medieval Latin) A period of seven years.^[3][2]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) hebdomada sāncta, magna or maior: Holy Week;^[4] hebdomada rogātiōnum: the fifth week after Easter.^[4]
5. (Medieval Latin) A week's turn of duty in a monastery.^[14][15]

Related words

• hebdomas
• septimāna
• English hebdomad

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
5. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
12. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
13. ^ a b Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
14. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
15. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl