interstitium

Forms

interstitium n (genitive interstitiī or interstitī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Georges and Gaffiot derive it from intersistō (“to pause, make a break”),^[2][3][4] and Wiktionary explains it as that verb with the suffix -ium.^[1] The TLL instead derives it from inter (“between”) and sistō or stō (“to stand”), hardly from that compound verb, and compares antistitium and iustitium;^[5] Conte and Etymonline also connect it with the verb “to stand”.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Conte's earliest citation is the Old Latin Bible (Ephesians 2.14), in the sense of an intervening space.^[6] Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Late writers used it of space, a gap or interstice, as Ammianus and Macrobius do, and of time, an interval, as in Martianus Capella.^[8][2][3] Medieval Latin added a caesura, pause or section of a text,^[9] a tract of land, a measure of length, a zone and a storey of a building,^[10] and in British sources the separation between heavenly bodies and an interval of pitch in music.^[11]

English interstice (early 15th century) comes from it, partly through Old French,^[7] and the Italian word interstizio is from the Late Latin word.^[6]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Old Latin Bible uses it of an intervening space.^[6][12]
• c. 390 – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of a space between.^[8][12]
• 1st half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it of spaces.^[2][12]
• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it of intervals of time.^[8][2][12]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as interstice.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An intervening space, gap, interstice.^[4][8][2]
2. An interval of time.^[8][2][3]
3. (Medieval Latin) A caesura, pause; a section of a text.^[9]
4. (Medieval Latin) A tract of land; a zone; a storey of a building.^[10]
5. (Medieval Latin) The separation between heavenly bodies;^[11] (music) an interval of pitch.^[11]

Related words

• English interstice
• English interstitial

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de