mysterium

Forms

mystērium n (genitive mystēriī or mystērī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μυστήριον (mustḗrion, “secret rite”), from μύστης (mústēs, “initiate”).^[2][1][3] It is mostly plural, and is also spelled ⟨mistērium⟩.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Accius, of secret rites.^[2] Köbler dates Accius 170–c. 90 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant secret religious rites open only to initiates, the mysteries, as of Ceres at Eleusis in Cicero.^[2][5][4] In Cicero it also meant secrets that must not be told.^[2] Döderlein explains that arcāna are secrets by their own nature, to be spoken of with awe.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a mystery, secret knowledge.^[7] Medieval Latin used it for a hidden thing and the secret of God's plan, redemption.^[8] Anglo-French and Old French mistere gave English mystery in the early 14th century, of revealed religious truth, and English mysterious in the 1610s.^[1][9]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of secret rites.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the Eleusinian mysteries and of secrets.^[2][3]
• early 14th century – English mystery is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Secret rites, mysteries.^[2]
2. Secrets.^[2]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A religious mystery.^[7][8]

Related words

• mysterius
• mysticus
• English mystery
• English mysterious

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com