Etymologically
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mundus

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Forms

mundus m (genitive mundī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2] A connection with Etruscan 𐌌𐌖𐌍𐌈 (munθ) has been proposed but cannot be established.[2][1]

The sense “the universe, the ordered world” is a semantic loan from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “order, ornament, world”).[1] De Vaan suggests that the noun meaning “a woman's toilet articles” is the same word, since κόσμος too meant both “ornament” and “world”.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates both the noun and the adjective from Ennius.[4] De Vaan finds the noun from Plautus onwards.[2] Accius writes of “the bright stars of the sky”.[5]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it first meant the heavens, the sky or firmament, as in Accius and Lucretius, and then the world and the earth, as in Cicero's “citizen of the whole world” and Virgil's “a golden race will rise in the whole world”.[5] It also meant a woman's toilet articles and finery, mundus muliebris, and in general tools or equipment.[5][3]

A separate mundus was a sacred pit at Rome thought to communicate with the underworld.[5][4] Later it also meant mankind and the earthly world.[1][4] It survives as Italian mondo, French monde and Spanish and Portuguese mundo, and its derivative mundanus gave English mundane.[1][6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato mentions the sacred pit mundus.[4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[4]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of the sky.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the whole world.[5][4]
  • mid-15th century – English mundane comes from its derivative mundanus.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The heavens, sky, firmament.[5][1]
  2. The world, the earth; the universe.[5][1]
  3. Mankind; the earthly world.[1][4]
  4. A woman's toilet articles, finery.[5][1]
  5. Implements, equipment.[3][1]
  6. A sacred underground pit (mundus Cereris).[5][4]

Word family

  • intermundia
  • mundānus
  • mundiālis
  • mundicors
  • mundiger
  • mundipotens
  • munditenens
  • mundivagus
  • immundus
  • mundālis
  • mundifico
  • munditiēs

Usage notes

The adjective mundus, “clean, neat, elegant”, may come from Proto-Indo-European *meud- (“to rejoice”), though the sense does not fit well.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com