Etymologically
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normalis

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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
  • 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