Etymologically
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marinus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [maˈriː.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [maˈriː.nus][1]

Forms

marīnus (feminine marīna, neuter marīnum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mare (“sea”) + -īnus.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨mare⟩ to Proto-Italic *mari- (“sea, lake”) and Proto-Indo-European *mor-i- (“sea, lake”), a word for any large body of water; cognate with Old Irish muir (“sea”), Lithuanian mãrės (“lagoon”), Old Church Slavonic морє (morje, “sea”) and Old High German mari (“sea, lake”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius,[4] who has sea regions in his Saturae and a sea-weasel among the fish.[2] De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means “of the sea, marine”, of sea deities such as Catullus' sea nymphs, of animals and plants named after land kinds (the sea-weasel), of sea products, and of seawater (aqua marina).[2][5] It distinguishes sea from river, especially of seagoing ships and sailors, and in Vitruvius means “nautical”, of naval machines.[2] Ros marinus, “sea dew”, is rosemary.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “of the sea, marine”.[6] In medieval sources the noun marinus is a sailor.[7] Marinus is also a given name.[1]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of sea regions and sea animals.[2][4]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of sea nymphs.[2][4]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of naval machines.[2][4]
  • mid-15th century – Borrowed into English as marine, partly through Old French.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the sea, marine; of seawater; seagoing.[2][5][1][6]
  2. Nautical.[2]
  3. ros marinus, rosemary.[2]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A sailor.[7]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com