normalis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [noːrˈmaː.lɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [norˈmaː.lis]^[1]

Forms

nōrmālis (neuter nōrmāle, adverb nōrmāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nōrma (“carpenter's square”) + -ālis.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Manilius, in his Astronomica, uses virgula nōrmālis for a carpenter's square.^[3][4] Köbler dates Manilius to the 1st century AD.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant made with a carpenter's square, forming a right angle: Quintilian uses angulus nōrmālis for a right angle, and the land-surveyors speak of perpendicular lines.^[3][2] The adverb nōrmāliter “at right angles” is in Hyginus' work on boundaries.^[3]

In medieval Latin it meant according to a monastic rule.^[6] British writers used it of perpendicular lines.^[7] English normal is recorded around 1500 as “typical”, from the Late Latin sense “according to rule”, and in geometry from the 1640s.^[8]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Manilius uses it of a square.^[3][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian speaks of a right angle.^[3][5]
• c. 1500 – English normal is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Made by the square; perpendicular, forming a right angle.^[2][1]
2. (Late Latin) According to rule, normal.^[8][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) According to a monastic rule.^[6]

Word family

• nōrmāliter

Related words

• nōrma
• nōrmātiō
• nōrmātūra
• nōrmātus
• nōrmō
• nōrmula
• English normal

References

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