omega
Forms
ōmega n (indeclinable)[1] Also treated as feminine, with littera “letter” understood.[2]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὦ μέγα (ō méga, “great O”),[3][2][4] the name of the long O; its second part is μέγας (mégas, “great”).[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first record is in the Old Latin Bible (the Itala), at Revelation 22:13.[1][4]
Semantic evolution
It was the name of the last letter of the Greek alphabet.[5][3] Through the words of the Apocalypse it came to mean the end or completion of something, and an Old English gloss renders it ende.[3][4] Bacon explains it in his Greek grammar as “O longum quod vocant O mega id est O magnum” (“the long O, which they call O mega, that is, the great O”).[3] In 11th-century music treatises it served as the letter for the eighth mode in an extended series of vowels.[6]
Timeline
- after 220 AD – The Itala has it at Revelation 22:13.[1][4]
- 11th century – Music treatises use it as the letter of the eighth mode.[6]
Meanings
Noun
- omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet.[5][3][1]
- (Christian) The end, the completion of something, after the Apocalypse.[3][4]
- (Medieval Latin, music) The letter marking the eighth mode.[6]
Related words
- English omega
References
- ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b Victionarium (Latin Wiktionary), la.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f 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
- ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b c Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz