mediterraneus

Forms

mediterrāneus (feminine mediterrānea, neuter mediterrāneum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin medius (“middle”) + terra (“land”) + -āneus.^[2][1][3] Wiktionary treats it as a calque of Ancient Greek μεσόγαιος (mesógaios, “inland”), and the TLL compares that word and subterrāneus.^[1][3] De Vaan traces the first part to Proto-Italic *meþio- and Proto-Indo-European *medʰi-o- (“middle”), and the second to *tersā- (“earth”) and *ters-h₂- (“dry land”).^[4] Among the ancient grammarians Priscian explained it as coming from the middle of the land.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example the OLD gives is in Varro's work on farming, which speaks of an inland fishpond.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In classical Latin it describes what lies inland, away from the coast, as opposed to maritimus:^[2][6] Cicero calls Henna a town that is as inland as can be, and Caesar writes of tin found in inland regions.^[2][6][7] As a masculine plural noun it names the people living inland;^[2][7] Cicero says that such people would not believe the sea exists.^[2][7] The neuter singular and plural were used as nouns for the interior of a country, in Livy and Pliny the Elder.^[6] It could also mean coming from or typical of inland regions: Livy calls Gordium a busy market for an inland town, and Pliny the Younger says his villa supplies inland produce too.^[2][7]

In Late Latin mare Mediterrāneum became a name of the Mediterranean Sea, which had been called mare magnum;^[6][8] Isidore of Seville uses it so.^[6][8] English took the name from it, as Mediterranie about 1400 and as Mediterranean in the 1590s.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro writes of an inland fishpond.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of Henna and of peoples living inland.^[2][7][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar writes of tin found in inland regions.^[2][6][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses the neuter plural for the interior of Gaul and calls Gordium an inland market.^[6][2][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses Mediterrāneum mare for the Mediterranean Sea.^[6][5]
• 1590s – English adopts the name as Mediterranean, after earlier Mediterranie (about 1400).^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Inland, remote from the coast, midland.^[2][6]
2. (masculine plural as noun) People living inland.^[2][7]
3. (neuter singular or plural as noun) The interior of a country.^[6]
4. Typical of or coming from inland regions.^[2][7]
5. (Late Latin) mare Mediterrāneum: the Mediterranean Sea.^[6][8]

Word family

• mediterrāneum

Related words

• medius
• terra
• subterrāneus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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 d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com