polygonum

Forms

polygōnum n (genitive polygōnī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πολύγωνον (polúgōnon, “polygon”),^[2][3][4] the noun use of the neuter of the adjective πολύγωνος (polúgōnos, “many-angled”),^[5] from πολύς (polús, “many”) and γωνία (gōnía, “angle, corner”).^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest author the dictionaries cite is Censorinus, who in an astrological passage says that a certain line forms the side of no polygon.^[2][6][3] Martianus Capella (5th century AD) explains that three straight lines make a trigonum, four a tetragonum and many a polygonum.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It remained a rare technical term of geometry in Late Latin;^[2][7] the land surveyors have it once in an obscure passage, spelt policonum.^[2][3] Köbler also records a medieval use as the name of a plant.^[4] From Late Latin it passed into English as polygon in the 1570s,^[5] and into Italian as poligono.^[7]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella defines it as a figure made by many straight lines.^[2][4]
• 1570s – English borrows it as polygon.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, geometry) A polygon, a figure with many angles.^[2][6][3][1]

Related words

• English polygon

Usage notes

The plant knotgrass, whose name is sometimes written the same way in the neuter, is polygonos.^[8][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press