interdiu

Forms

interdiū (not comparable)^[1] The older form interdius is in Plautus, Cato and Varro.^[2][3] The TLL also records interdie.^[4]

Etymology

It is from Latin inter (“between, during”) + diū (“by day”).^[5][1][4] Nussbaum, whom de Vaan follows, takes it as two originally independent adverbs, "in the meantime" and "by day".^[3] De Vaan explains diū as the old locative of the word for "day", going back to Proto-Italic *di(j)ou and Proto-Indo-European *di-eu- (“day; sky”); the older dius may continue the genitive "of the day".^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato, who says that dogs should be shut in during the day so that they are fiercer at night.^[3][6][2]

Semantic evolution

It means by day, in the daytime, usually in contrast with noctū, by night.^[5][2] The form interdius is earlier, in Plautus.^[3] Lewis & Short note that Cicero does not use it.^[2] Festus explains it from dium, the day, and calls noctū its opposite.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has the form interdius.^[3][2][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses interdiū of dogs shut in by day.^[3][2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro still writes interdius.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. By day, in the daytime, during daylight.^[5][2][7][1]

Word family

• interdiānus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson