Etymologically
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menstruus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈmẽː.stru.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmɛn.stru.us][1]

Forms

mēnstruus (feminine mēnstrua, neuter mēnstruum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Manuscripts also have mēstruus.[2]

Etymology

It is formed on a stem ⟨*mēnstr-⟩ of mēnsis (“month”), seen in bimēnstris (“of two months”), with the suffix ⟨-uus⟩ as in annuus (“yearly”).[3][2] De Vaan traces mēnsis to Proto-Italic *mēns- (“month, moon”) and Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-n-s-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”).[4] Cognate with Umbrian menzne (“moon”), Old Irish mí (“month”), Sanskrit मास् (mā́s-, “moon, month”) and Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn, “month”).[4] Priscian says that the ⟨t⟩ and ⟨r⟩ were added for euphony.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,[4] who writes that the king announces the monthly festivals on the Nones of February, ferias menstruas.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means of or consisting of a month, as in Cicero's De natura deorum, where the moon completes in a month's space the circuit the sun makes in a year;[3] also belonging to a particular month.[3] More often it is recurring every month, monthly: Varro has the monthly course of the moon, and Lucretius the moon running its monthly course through the shadows;[3] Cicero speaks of monthly interest, ūsūra mēnstrua.[5] It can also mean lasting a month, or of provisions enough for a month: in the Pro Roscio comoedo Cicero contrasts the monthly notes with the permanent account books.[3][5] The neuter plural mēnstrua is the monthly sacrifices,[5] and the neuter mēnstruum is the menstrual discharge, from Lucretius on.[4] Church Latin keeps the sense monthly.[6]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro, of monthly festivals.[3][4][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of the moon's monthly course.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of monthly interest.[5][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or consisting of a month;[3][1] belonging to a particular month.[3]
  2. Recurring every month, monthly.[3][5][1][6]
  3. Lasting a month;[3] of provisions, enough for a month.[3]

Word family

  • bimenstruus
  • intermēnstruus
  • mēnstruō
  • mēnstruum
  • intermēnstruum
  • mēnstrua

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e 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 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 c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de