Etymologically
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penetrale

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Forms

penetrāle n (genitive penetrālis); third declension; often in the plural, penetrālia[1]

Etymology

It is a noun use of the neuter of the adjective, from Latin penetrālis (“inner, innermost”).[1][2] The adjective is formed on penetrō (“to go into”), which de Vaan thinks was made from penitus (“from within”) on the model of intrō beside intus.[1][3] He derives this family from penus (“provisions”), from Proto-Indo-European *pen-os (“food”): what one feeds on became the place where one feeds, the interior of the house.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates the noun from Varro.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the inner part or inmost recess of a building or region: Livy calls the prytaneum the inner part of a city, and Seneca has an ancient grove, the heart of a kingdom.[1] Figuratively it is the hidden depths, as of the mind in Statius.[1] In particular it is the inner shrine of a temple, where Livy says the pledge of Roman rule was kept, and the shrine of the household gods, the Penates; by extension it is a household or home, as in Ovid.[1] The plural often has the sense of the singular.[1] In medieval Latin ⟨penetrālia mentis⟩ or ⟨cordis⟩ is the heart of hearts, the conscience.[4]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.[2]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the inner part of a city and of an inner shrine.[1][2]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a home.[1][2]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius of the depths of the mind.[1][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The inner part, inmost recess of a building or region; figuratively, the secret depths.[1][5]
  2. The innermost part of a temple, an inner shrine, sanctuary.[1]
  3. The shrine of the household gods, the Penates; a household, home.[1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) penetrālia mentis, cordis, the heart of hearts, the conscience.[4]

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org