internus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɪnˈtɛr.nʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [inˈtɛr.nus]^[1]

Forms

internus (feminine interna, neuter internum, adverb internē); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from inter “between” with the suffix -nus, from a pre-Latin ⟨*interos⟩ “inside”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁énteros (“inner”).^[2][1][3][4] Priscian derives it from intrā.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Sallust, whom he dates 86–34 BC, and Sallust uses it of internal affairs.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it post-Augustan.^[6] It meant situated inside, internal, as Seneca's inner fire, and in Ovid within the house, private.^[2][7] In Pliny the Elder it meant of seas landlocked, mare internum the Mediterranean.^[2] From Sallust it meant domestic, civil, internal, as Tacitus' civil discords, and interna internal affairs.^[2][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant internal, inward, inner.^[8] Medieval Latin internālis from it gave English internal in the early 15th century, and French interne gave English intern.^[3]

Timeline

• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of internal affairs.^[2][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the home.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses mare internum.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – English internal is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Inside, internal; private.^[2]
2. Of seas, landlocked, mare internum, the Mediterranean.^[2]
3. Domestic, civil, interna, internal affairs.^[2]

Word family

• interna
• internālis

Related words

• inter
• internās
• interior
• English internal
• English intern

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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