Etymologically
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longinquus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫɔŋˈɡɪŋ.kʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [lon̠ʲˈd͡ʒiŋ.kʷus][1]

Forms

longinquus (feminine longinqua, neuter longinquum, comparative longinquior, adverb longinquē or longinquō); first/second-declension adjective[1] It is also spelled longincus.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from longē (“far”) (or longus (“long”)) with the suffix -inquus, as the opposite of propinquus (“near”).[3][2][4] The OLD compares the ending of Ancient Greek ποδαπός (podapós, “from what country?”).[2] De Vaan derives ⟨longus⟩ from Proto-Italic *(d)longo- and Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰ-o- (“long”), cognate with Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃 (laggs, “long”) and Old High German lang (“long”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is its first author,[5] who has vītam longinquam, “a long life”, in the Miles gloriosus.[2]

Semantic evolution

In space it is distant or remote, as Cicero's “deserted and distant fields”, of wars and service far from home, as in Livy, and of things that come from far off or blows dealt from a distance; the neuter gives ex longinquō “from far away” and in longinquum “into the distance”.[2][6] It is also long in extent, as Pliny's long fishing line, and of sounds far-carrying.[2]

In time it is remote, past or future, or long-lasting, as Plautus' long life and Caesar's prolonged war;[2][6][1] Lewis and Short also give foreign or strange of people living far off.[2][6][1] Church Latin uses dē longinquō or ex longinquō, “from afar”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a long life.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of distant fields and remote times.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of service far from home.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Far off, distant, remote;[2][6][7] ex longinquō, from afar.[2][6][7]
  2. Coming from far off;[2] (of weapons) delivered from a distance.[2]
  3. Remote in time; long-deferred.[2][1]
  4. Long in extent;[2][1] (of sounds) far-carrying.[2][1]
  5. Long-lasting, prolonged.[2][1]
  6. Foreign, strange.[6][1]

Word family

  • longinquitās
  • longinquō
  • longinquē

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson