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meatus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word meatus

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Lucretius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂mey-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [meˈaː.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [meˈaː.tus][1]

Forms

meātus m (genitive meātūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from meō “to go, pass” with the action-noun suffix -tus.[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨meō⟩ as Proto-Italic *mejo-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mey- (“to exchange”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Lucretius, sōlis lūnaeque meātūs “the courses of sun and moon”.[2][4] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a movement along a course, a going, passing, as in Lucretius, Virgil and Tacitus; the course or path of a moving body, as in Seneca; and a passage, channel, as in Columella.[2][6] Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.[4] Köbler records meātus aurium, the ear canal.[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was a passage, way.[7] British Medieval Latin used it for movement along a course.[8]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.[6][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a channel.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A going, movement, course.[2]
  2. A path.[2]
  3. A passage, channel, meātus aurium the ear canal.[2][5]
  • meō
  • commeātus
  • trāmes

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Meatus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/meatus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·