peripheria

Forms

peripherīa f (genitive peripherīae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek περιφέρεια (periphéreia, “circumference”),^[1][2][3] which comes from περιφερής (peripherḗs, “moving round, revolving”), from περιφέρω (periphérō, “to carry round”).^[4][1] Köbler traces the prefix περί (perí, “around”) to Proto-Indo-European *per-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Martianus Capella (5th century AD) as a term of geometry and astronomy for the line that bounds a circle, its circumference; he notes that this line is called by the Greek name.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it remained a technical word of geometry and astronomy;^[5][3] Lewis and Short note that the native Latin expression was linea circumcurrens.^[5][3]

Medieval writers in Britain used it, often spelled periferia, mostly in geometry, for the circumference of a circle and for a periphery in general.^[6] From Medieval Latin periferia and Old French periferie English took periphery, first for the atmosphere around the earth.^[4]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it for the circumference of a circle.^[5][2]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as periferie, through Old French and Medieval Latin.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry, astronomy) The circumference of a circle.^[5][3][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A periphery, an outer boundary.^[6][1]

Word family

• peripheriālis
• peripherālis

Related words

• English periphery

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.