Etymologically
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noctivagus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [nɔkˈtɪ.wa.ɡʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [nokˈtiː.va.ɡus][1]

Forms

noctivagus (feminine noctivaga, neuter noctivagum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nox (“night”) + vagor (“to wander”) with the adjective ending -us, according to the OLD;[2] Wiktionary and Georges take the second part as vagus (“wandering”).[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Lucretius,[4][5] who calls the stars the night-roaming torches of the sky (noctivagae facēs caelī).[2][6]

Semantic evolution

A poetic word in Classical Latin,[6] it was used above all of the heavenly bodies and of the night: Virgil has the moon goddess drive her night-wandering chariot (currū noctivagō Phoebē), Seneca calls her noctivaga Phoebē, and Statius applies it to the shades of night and to the god of sleep.[2][3] Valerius Flaccus speaks of a journey by night.[6][3] Faustus, quoted in Augustine's reply to him, speaks of a night-wandering sower.[3]

In Medieval Latin it was used as a noun for a night-wanderer or prowler.[7][8] In English legal records from the 14th and 15th centuries a commūnis noctivagus was a “common nightwalker”, a person of bad repute who roamed the streets at night, and a record of 1467 gives the English word nyghtwalker beside it.[8]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius calls the stars noctivagae facēs caelī.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the moon's chariot.[2][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of the shades of night.[2][5]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine quotes it in his reply to Faustus.[3][5]
  • 1375 – A Norwich court record calls a man a commūnis noctivagus.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Roaming or wandering by night.[2][6]
  2. (of heavenly bodies and the night) Moving through the night sky.[2][3]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A night-wanderer, prowler.[7][8]
  2. (Medieval Latin, law) commūnis noctivagus: a common nightwalker.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d e 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