ianua

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈjaː.nu.a]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈjaː.nu.a]^[1]

Forms

iānua f (genitive iānuae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from iānus “arched passage”, perhaps an old plural of a u-stem Proto-Italic *jānu- (“door”), Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-n-u- (“passage”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂- (“to go”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan thinks the first meaning was “passage, corridor”.^[2] Isidore of Seville derived it from the god Iānus, to whom the pagans dedicated every entrance and exit.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius.^[5] The OLD cites Plautus, who orders dung to be cleared from the door.^[3] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the door of a house or building, a doorway, as Cicero's closing of the door.^[3][6] By transfer it meant the means of access to a place, a gateway, as Cicero's gateway of Asia, and was applied to the mouth or the senses as the way into the mind.^[3][6] Döderlein says ōstium is any door, while iānua is the house door, the entrance.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it was also a water-gate, a leap-gate and the gate of heaven.^[8] English janitor comes from its derivative iānitor “doorkeeper”, first in the 1580s.^[9]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^[5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a house door.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero calls a city the gateway of Asia.^[6][5]
• 1580s – English janitor is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A door, doorway.^[3]
2. A means of access, gateway.^[3]

Word family

• iānitor
• ianitrīx
• iānus
• iānuārius

Related words

• English janitor
• English January

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com