Etymologically
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iter

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɪ.tɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈiː.ter][1]

Forms

iter n (genitive itineris or iteris or iteneris); third declension[1] Old Latin also had a nominative itiner and a genitive iteris.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *eitor (“way”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éy-tr̥ (“way, journey”), genitive *h₁i-tén-s, from the root of eō “to go”.[3][2] The genitive itineris combines both stems.[3] Cognate with Hittite itar (“way”) and Tocharian B ytārye (“road”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius, who has the genitive iteris.[3] In Plautus a man promises to tell all his doings and journeys.[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the act of travelling, a journey, and in military language a march, as in Caesar's magnīs itineribus “by forced marches”.[2] In itinere meant on the way.[2] It was also a way of access, a route, and a road or footpath.[2] Figuratively it was the course of an argument, as in Cicero.[6]

Medieval Latin used it for a military expedition and for the circuit of itinerant judges.[7] The latter sense came through Old French eire to English eyre, and Late Latin itinerārium gave English itinerary in the mid-15th century.[1][8]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses the genitive iteris.[3][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar marches into Gaul by forced marches.[2][5]
  • mid-15th century – English itinerary is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A journey, in itinere, on the way.[2]
  2. (military) A march.[2]
  3. A way of access.[2]
  4. A route.[2]
  5. A road, footpath.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A military expedition; the circuit of itinerant judges.[7]

Word family

  • itinerārium
  • itinerārius
  • itinerātor
  • itineror
  • eō
  • English itinerary
  • English eyre

Usage notes

Isidore distinguishes iter, a way by which a person can go anywhere, from itiner.[9] Döderlein contrasts iter, the going of a rational being, with meātus, the movement of things without will, such as rivers and stars.[10]

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 l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper