postis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔs.tɪs], [ˈpɔs.tiːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔs.tis], [ˈpɔs.tis]^[1]

Forms

postis m (genitive postis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *po(r)sti-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥-sth₂-i- (“standing forth”) or *po-sth₂-i- “standing upright”, a compound of a preverb and the root *steh₂- (“to stand”).^[2][1][3]

On the first view it is cognate with Sanskrit पृष्ठ (pṛṣṭhá-, “back, ridge”) and Lithuanian pir̃štas (“finger”), and on the second with Old Norse fastr (“firm”) and Old English fæst (“firm, fixed”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards, mostly in the plural.^[2][4] In the Mostellaria a slave says, “just look at the doorposts, how solidly made they are”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a doorpost or jamb, and also the stile of a door, into which the pivots were set.^[3] In the plural it stood for the door itself, as in Virgil.^[5][6] Cicero tells of a law fixed to the doorpost of the senate house, and postem tenere, to hold the doorpost, was part of dedicating a temple.^[7][5] Lucretius used it figuratively for the eyes, the doors of sight.^[5]

Medieval Latin used it for a pole, a pile or a post in general, as of a mill.^[8][9] It survives as Spanish and Portuguese poste and French poteau, and English post “pillar” comes from it through both Old English and Old French.^[1][10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for doorposts.^[3][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of a law fixed to a doorpost.^[7][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the plural for a door.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A doorpost, jamb.^[3][7]
2. The stile of a door.^[3]
3. (in the plural) A door.^[5][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) A post, pole, pile.^[8][9]

Word family

• postīcus

Related words

• porta
• English post

Usage notes

English post “mail” and post “position” are different words, from Italian posta and posto, which go back to Latin positum.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com