interior

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɪnˈtɛ.ri.ɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [inˈtɛː.ri.or]^[1]

Forms

interior (comparative, neuter interius, no positive form, superlative intimus or intumus, adverb interius); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a comparative formed from inter “between”, from an earlier ⟨*interus⟩, the source also of intrā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁énteros (“inner”).^[2][1][3] Cognate with Sanskrit अन्तर (ántara, “interior”) and Ancient Greek ἔντερον (énteron, “intestine”).^[1] It has no positive, and its superlative is intimus.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Terence, of what is nearer the centre.^[2] Köbler's first source is Plautus, and he dates Terence 190–159 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant nearer the centre, inner, as Cicero's inner part of the house, and in Livy closer in, more moderate.^[2][4] It meant internal, inside, and of places and peoples further from the coast, inland, as in Varro.^[2] In Celsus it meant inside the body, and in Cicero of feelings inward, private.^[2] In Cicero it also meant more intimate, of friends, deeper, and secret, and Cicero asks what is more inward than the mind.^[2][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant inward, interior, and interiōra the entrails.^[8] English interior came in the late 15th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of the inner part.^[2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of inland parts.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the inner mind and close friends.^[2][6]
• late 15th century – English interior is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Inner, nearer the centre; closer in.^[2]
2. Internal; the inside of.^[2]
3. Further from the coast, inland.^[2]
4. Inside the body; inward, private.^[2]
5. More intimate.^[2]
6. Deeper; secret.^[2]

Related words

• inter
• intimus
• internus
• English interior

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson