Etymologically
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podium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɔ.di.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɔː.di.um][1]

Forms

podium n (genitive podiī or podī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πόδιον (pódion, “little foot; base”),[2][3][4][1] a diminutive of πούς (poús, “foot”),[5][4][1] from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”).[5][4][1] The TLL records a masculine ⟨podius⟩ beside the neuter, and the spelling ⟨pogium⟩.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it in inscriptions from the age of Augustus and in authors from Vitruvius on.[6] Vitruvius uses it of the raised base on which a row of columns stands round a temple.[2]

Semantic evolution

In architecture it is a raised platform or base, and in a room the lower part of the wall, the dado.[2] In the amphitheatre and the circus it is the wall round the arena that carries the seating, where the most distinguished spectators sat;[2][5] Pliny the Elder describes nets set up to protect it from the beasts.[2][5] Lewis & Short add a balcony and, in Palladius, any raised place.[3]

In Medieval Latin, Niermeyer records the senses pillar or prop, staff or crutch, praying-stool, the raised choir of a church, and hill or a castle built on a hill;[7] British writers used it of a staff and a rowlock.[8] The “hill” sense lives on in Italian poggio and Old French pui.[1] From the plural ⟨podia⟩, through Old French ⟨puie⟩ “balcony, raised seat”, came English pew;[5] English borrowed ⟨podium⟩ itself as a term of architecture in 1743.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the base of a row of columns and of the dado of a room.[2][6][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of the arena wall of the amphitheatre.[2][4]
  • end of the 4th/beginning of the 5th century AD – Palladius uses it of any raised place.[3][4]
  • late 14th century – English pew comes from its plural through Old French.[5]
  • 1743 – English borrows it as an architectural term.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A raised step or base supporting a row of columns, a stylobate.[2]
  2. The wall round the arena of an amphitheatre or circus, forming the base of the seats.[2][3]
  3. The dado or lower part of an interior wall.[2]
  4. A balcony; a raised place.[3][1]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A stage, platform.[9]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A pillar or prop; a staff or crutch.[7][8]
  7. (Medieval Latin) A praying-stool; the raised choir of a church.[7]
  8. (Medieval Latin) A hill; a castle on a hill.[7]

Word family

  • podicus
  • pes
  • English podium
  • English pew

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson