hemisphaerium

Forms

hēmisphaerium n (genitive hēmisphaeriī or hēmisphaerī); second declension^[1] A Greek-style form hēmisphaerion also occurs.^[2][3] Manuscripts write it em-, hiem- and -sper-.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἡμισφαίριον (hēmisphaírion),^[2][4][1] from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “half”) and σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, sphere”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first example is a line of Naevius (c. 235–200 BC), quoted by Varro, about a hemisphere where the blue vault stands enclosed: hemisphaerium ubi concha caerula septum stat.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is used of half of any sphere, of the sky, and of the earth (Pomponius Mela, Martianus Capella),^[4] and Vitruvius applies it to a hemispherical sundial and to a dome.^[2][4] Medieval Latin used it above all for the hemisphere of the heavens.^[7] English took hemisphere from the Late Latin word in the late 14th century, first for the celestial sphere.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of the vault of the sky.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for a hemisphere.^[4][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it for a hemispherical sundial and for a dome.^[2][4][5]
• 43/44 AD – Pomponius Mela uses it for half of the earth.^[4][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as hemisphere.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hemisphere, half of a sphere; half of the sky or of the earth.^[2][4][7]
2. A hemispherical sundial.^[2]
3. (architecture) A dome, cupola.^[4]

Related words

• hēmisphaericus
• sphaera
• English hemisphere

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill