occidens

Forms

occidēns m (genitive occidentis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the present participle from Latin occidō (“to fall down; to set”), used as an adjective and as a noun, the place of the setting sun.^[2][1][3] That verb is a compound of ob and cadō (“to fall”), which de Vaan derives, with some doubt, from Proto-Indo-European *(ḱe-)ḱh₂d- (“to fall”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[5] In the OLD's earliest quotation Cicero writes of torches seen in the west at night.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it is connected with sunset, and western: Varro says that if you face south, the eastern parts of the world are on your left and the western on your right.^[2] As a noun it is the quarter of the setting sun, the west, which Vitruvius distinguishes by season as the winter west.^[2] It is also the western part of the known world and its peoples: Cicero writes that he has firm leaders and armies in the West.^[2] Church Latin glosses it west, evening.^[6] English occident comes from it, partly through Old French, from the late 14th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of torches seen in the west and of armies in the West.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of the western parts of the world.^[2][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of the winter west.^[2][5]
• late 14th century – English occident.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the sunset or evening; western, westerly.^[2]

Noun

1. The quarter where the sun sets, the west;^[2][1][6] (Ecclesiastical Latin) evening.^[2][1][6]
2. The western part of the world, the West, and its peoples.^[2]
3. Sunset.^[1]

Word family

• occidentālis

Related words

• occidō
• oriēns

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson