Etymologically
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ostium

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈoːs.ti.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔs.ti.um][1]

Forms

ōstium n (genitive ōstiī or ōstī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from or related to ōs “mouth”.[2][1][3] Cognate with Sanskrit ओष्ठ (óṣṭha-, “lip”) and Lithuanian uostas (“river mouth”).[2][4] An inscription has the plural ⟨austia⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, who speaks of overhearing everything from the door.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a door with its frame, especially the front door of a building, as Plautus' rēctum ōstium “front door” and ōstium postīcum “back door”, and the entrance to the underworld.[2][3] It was also a starting gate in racing, any opening, as in Varro, and the mouth of a river or harbour, as in Cicero; the mouths of the Nile had their own names.[2][3] Döderlein says ōstium is any door, while iānua is a house door; forēs and valvae are the door leaves.[6]

In Medieval Latin it was the door of a church or monastery and the office of the doorkeeper.[7] It survives in Romanian ușă and Italian uscio “door”, and Old French huis.[1] English ostium is a borrowing for an opening in anatomy.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of front and back doors.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of an opening.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the mouth of a river.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A door, especially a front door.[2]
  2. A starting gate.[2]
  3. An opening, aperture.[2]
  4. The mouth (of a river or harbour).[2]

Word family

  • ōstiārius
  • ōstiātim
  • ostiolum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  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