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modernus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word modernus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
papal letters of 492–496
Ultimate origin
Latin (modo)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin modernus
English modern

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [mɔˈdɛr.nʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [moˈdɛr.nus][1]

Forms

modernus (feminine moderna, neuter modernum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin modo (“just now”) + -rnus, formed after hodiernus “of today” from hodiē.[1][2][3] Etymonline traces modo to the ablative of modus “measure”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in papal letters of 492–496 AD.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a post-classical word for new, recent, of the present time, opposed to antiquus.[2][3] Cassiodorus praises a man as the most careful imitator of the ancients and the noblest founder of modern things, and the Pseudo-Priscian work on accents uses it too.[2][6] Bede speaks of modern versifiers.[3]

In medieval Latin it meant modern, recent, present-day, new.[7] British writers used it of current holders of an office and of the present as distinguished from the past.[8] English modern is recorded around 1500.[4]

Timeline

  • 492–496 AD – Papal letters use it.[5]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus contrasts the ancients and the moderns.[2][5]
  • c. 1500 – English modern is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. New, recent, modern.[2][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Present-day; currently in office.[7][8]

Noun

  1. In the neuter plural, things of the present.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  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

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Modernus.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/modernus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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