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iterum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɪ.tɛ.rũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈiː.te.rum][1]

Forms

iterum (not comparable)[1] A collateral form iterō appears in an inscription and in Late Latin.[2][3]

Etymology

It is the neuter of an adjective that Latin lost, inherited from Proto-Italic *itero- (“the other”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)i-tero-, used as an adverb.[4][5] The adjective is built with the contrastive suffix ⟨*-tero-⟩ on the pronoun stem of is (“he, that”).[5][1] Cognate with Sanskrit इतर (ítara-, “the other of two, another”),[4] and with Umbrian etram-a (“to the other”).[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] who has iterum mihi gnātus videor, quom tē repperī, “I feel born again, now that I have found you”.[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Iterum is “again, once more”, and in iterum atque iterum or iterum iterumque “again and again” (Virgil: Creūsam nēquīquam ingeminans iterumque iterumque vocāvī, “I called Creusa in vain, again and again”).[5] In a sequence of events it is “for the second time”, the regular word for holding a magistracy a second time (iterum cōnsul), and in lists “secondly”;[5] semel atque iterum is “time and again”.[5] From Statius on it can also mean “on the other hand, for his part”.[5]

Döderlein distinguishes iterum, “a second time”, from rūrsus, “again, back”, and dēnuō, “anew”.[8] In Medieval Latin it can serve as a mere connective, “further, but”,[9] beside its classical senses.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: iterum mihi gnātus videor.[5][7]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato: veniunt iterum atque tertium, “they come a second and a third time”.[5][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil: iterumque iterumque vocāvī.[5][7]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it contrastively, “on the other hand”.[5][7]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. again, once more;[5][2][1][10] iterum atque iterum, iterum iterumque: again and again.[5]
  2. For the second time (especially of holding an office);[5][1] secondly.[5]
  3. semel atque iterum: time and again.[5]
  4. On the other hand, for one's part.[5]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Further, but (as a connective).[9]

Word family

  • iterō

Usage notes

Döderlein compares iterum with Greek δεύτερον, “a second time”, rūrsus with αὖθις and πάλιν, and dēnuō (from dē novō) with νέοθεν;[8] dē integrō is “quite afresh”.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b 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
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson