horizontalis

Forms

horizontālis (neuter horizontāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin horizōn (“horizon”) + -ālis.^[1][2][3] The base goes back to Ancient Greek ὁρίζων (horízōn).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Albertus Magnus uses it in his De caelo, of the horizontal circle, the circle of the horizon.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages it meant belonging to the horizon,^[5][2] and in New Latin also horizontal.^[1] Copernicus has a table of horizontal angles, the angles that the ecliptic makes with the horizon.^[3] English horizontal, from the 1550s, came through French.^[6]

Timeline

• 13th century – Albertus Magnus writes of the horizontal circle.^[5][2]
• 1550s – English horizontal is recorded, meaning “of the horizon”.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Of the horizon.^[5][2]
2. (astronomy) angulus horizontālis: the angle that the ecliptic makes with the horizon.^[3]
3. (New Latin) horizontal.^[1]

Related words

• horizōn
• English horizontal

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
4. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
5. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com