intersectio

Forms

intersectiō f (genitive intersectiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin intersecō (“to cut through, intersect”) + -tiō,^[2][3][1] a noun of action formed on the stem of its past participle.^[4] The verb is from inter- (“between”) and secō (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius (3.5.11) uses it as a term of architecture for the cut or space between two dentils of a cornice.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is known only from this passage of Vitruvius.^[2][7][8] Medieval writers used it for the act of intersecting, as of the circles of the planets in Pseudo-Bede, for the point where lines cross, and for a notch in the body of spiders.^[9][10]

English took it over in the 1550s as intersection, first in geometry, from French and directly from Latin;^[4] the Italian word intersezione is also from the Latin word.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the space between dentils.^[2][11]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it of crossing orbits.^[9][11]
• 1550s – Borrowed into English as intersection.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (architecture) The cut or space between two dentils.^[2][5][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) Intersection, crossing.^[9][10]
3. (Medieval Latin) The point or place of intersection.^[9][10]
4. (Medieval Latin) A notch or incision, as in the body of a spider.^[9]

Related words

• English intersection

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b c 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
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de