Etymologically
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longitudo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫɔŋ.ɡɪˈtuː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [lon̠ʲ.d͡ʒiˈtuː.do][1]

Forms

longitūdō f (genitive longitūdinis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin longus (“long”) + -tūdō.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces longus to Proto-Italic *(d)longo- and Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰ-o- (“long”).[4] Cognate with Old High German lang (“long”) and Old Norse langr (“long”).[4] Its astronomical and geographical sense is a calque of Ancient Greek μῆκος (mêkos, “length”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL dates it from Plautus,[3] whose Amphitruo says that this night far surpassed another in length.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is linear extent or length, as Caesar gives the length of a side of Britain and the length and breadth of the Helvetians' territory, and in longitudinem is lengthwise.[2][5] Cicero uses it of the length of a journey, of lengthiness in a narrative, and of the length of time or of a day;[2] Terence has in longitudinem for the distant future.[2] The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of the long quantity of syllables.[2] Cicero's De natura deorum already speaks of the planet Venus ranging over the length and breadth of the zodiac.[2]

In medieval Latin it means distance and geographical or astronomical longitude.[6] English borrowed longitude in the late 14th century, in the senses length and longitude.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the length of a night.[2][8]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of looking to the distant future.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the length of a journey and of the zodiac.[2][8]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of the dimensions of territories.[2][8]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as longitude.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Linear extent, length;[2][5][9][1] in longitudinem, lengthwise.[2][5][9][1]
  2. Great length; the long side of an area.[2]
  3. Lengthiness of writing or speech, prolixity.[2][1]
  4. Length of time, duration;[2][1] in longitudinem, for the distant future.[2][1]
  5. (prosody) Long quantity of a syllable.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) Distance; geographical or astronomical longitude.[6]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson