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plenilunium

Etymology and origin of the Latin word plenilunium

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Columella
Ultimate origin
Latin (plēnus,lūna)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pɫeː.nɪˈɫuː.ni.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ple.niˈluː.ni.um][1]

Forms

plēnilūnium n (genitive plēnilūniī or plēnilūnī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from plēnus “full” and lūna “moon” with -ium, for the older phrase ⟨plēna lūna⟩.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨lūna⟩ to Proto-Italic *louksnā-, Proto-Indo-European *lewk-s-néh₂- (“shiny, bright”), probably an old epithet of the moon.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Columella, and the OLD, Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite him.[5][6][7] Köbler dates Columella to the 1st century AD.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the time of full moon, the full moon, as in Columella and Pliny, and Lewis & Short note it as the post-Augustan word for lūna plēna.[2][6][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means full moon.[8] British Medieval Latin used it for the time of full moon.[9]

Timeline

  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it.[6][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it.[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The full moon.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Plenilunium.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/plenilunium. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·