medianus
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Pronunciation
Forms
mediānus (feminine mediāna, neuter mediānum); first/second-declension adjective[1]
Etymology
It is from medius “middle” with the suffix -ānus.[2][1][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
The OLD's earliest citation is from Cicero, “central”.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]
Semantic evolution
It meant situated in the middle, central, as in Cicero, and in Vitruvius intermediate, middle, of columns and of the musical scale.[2][5] Lewis & Short note that apart from Vitruvius it is post-classical, and Ulpian uses mediānum for the middle.[5][6]
In Medieval Latin it meant of the middle class of society, and the second of three.[7] Through Catalan mitjana and Old French migenne, influenced by Italian mezzana, it gave English mizzen in the early 15th century; it also gave English median in the 1540s.[3]
Timeline
- 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[2][4]
- c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of columns.[5][4]
- 1540s – English median is recorded.[3]
Meanings
Adjective
Word family
- mediānum
Related words
- medius
- English median
- English mizzen
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill