Etymologically
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meridianus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [mɛ.riː.diˈaː.nʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [me.ri.diˈaː.nus][1]

Forms

merīdiānus (feminine merīdiāna, neuter merīdiānum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin merīdiēs (“midday; south”) + -ānus.[2][1][3] Merīdiēs is from merīdiē (“at noon”), altered by dissimilation from *medi diē, from medius “middle” and diēs “day”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL dates it from Varro, who says the northern part of the world is healthier than the southern.[3][2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant of or at midday, as Cicero's tempus meridianum “noon”, Livy's scorching midday sun, and the midday sleep of Celsus and Pliny the Younger.[2][6] The meridiani were gladiators who fought at noon, after the beast-fighters of the morning, in Seneca and Suetonius.[7][6][5] Vitruvius uses it of the noon position of the sun, the meridian circle.[2]

It also meant southern, as the southern Ethiopians, and as a noun a southerner.[2] In medieval Latin it also meant as clear as midday, obvious, and daemonium meridianum, after Psalm 90, the noonday devil.[8] English meridian is recorded in the mid-14th century, first for noon or midday.[4]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the southern part of the world.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses tempus meridianum.[2][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the meridian.[2][5]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius mentions the midday gladiators.[6][5]
  • mid-14th century – English meridian is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or at midday, noon.[2][1]
  2. Of the noon position of the sun, meridian.[2]
  3. southern.[2][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Clear as day, obvious.[8]

Noun

  1. (plural) Gladiators who fought at midday.[7][6]
  2. A southerner.[2]

Word family

  • antemerīdiānus
  • postmerīdiānus

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 l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b 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