pandemus

Forms

pandēmus (feminine pandēma, neuter pandēmum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πάνδημος (pándēmos, “of or belonging to all the people, public”).^[1][2][3] The Greek word is built on παν- (pan-, “all”) and δῆμος (dêmos, “land, people”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Ammianus Marcellinus, who applies it to lues, a plague: one affecting all the people, an epidemic.^[3][4][2]

Semantic evolution

It means “affecting the whole people, general”;^[3][4] French and Italian dictionaries render it as “endemic” or “epidemic”.^[5][6] Conte marks it as medical and adds an example from the Latin Oribasius.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of a plague.^[3][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Affecting all the people, public, general; of a disease, epidemic.^[3][4][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier