Etymologically
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interior

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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]

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