maestitia

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [mae̯sˈtɪ.ti.a]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [mesˈtit.t͡si.a]^[1]

Forms

maestitia f (genitive maestitiae); first declension^[1] Also spelled moestitia.^[2]

Etymology

It is from maestus “sad” with the suffix -itia, like trīstitia.^[3][1][4] ⟨Maestus⟩ is related to maereō “to grieve”, which de Vaan reconstructs as Proto-Italic *mais- (“sad, grief”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus.^[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was sadness, sorrow, grief, dejection, and a source of grief, as in Plautus and Cicero; and of things dullness, gloom, as in Columella.^[3][2]

British Medieval Latin used it for sadness, grief, sorrow, as in Bede.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[2][6]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of gloom.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sadness, sorrow, dejection.^[3]
2. Dullness, gloom.^[3]

Related words

• maestus
• maereō
• maeror
• trīstitia

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ 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