postmeridianus

Forms

postmerīdiānus (feminine postmerīdiāna, neuter postmerīdiānum); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2] Also spelled posmerīdiānus.^[1][2] Lewis and Short give it under pōmerīdiānus, and Conte and VOLI list that form as a variant.^[3][4][5] Georges thinks pōmerīdiānus unwarranted in the passages of Cicero where it used to be read on the strength of Quintilian.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Latin post- + merīdiēs (“midday”) + -ānus.^[1][7] The TLL compares antemerīdiānus (“of the forenoon”),^[8] and VOLI instead takes it from the adjective merīdiānus (“of midday”) with the prefix.^[5] De Vaan explains the noun as a compound of medius (“middle”) and diēs (“day”), with /d/ dissimilated to /r/.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero is its first author.^[7] He speaks of the afternoon, postmerīdiānum tempus, in the Tusculan Disputations,^[6][2] and in the Orator he says that he would rather write posmerīdiānās quadrīgās “afternoon chariots” than the full form.^[8][6]

Semantic evolution

It kept one meaning, “of the afternoon”, applied to time, days and hours, as opposed to antemerīdiānus “of the forenoon” and merīdiānus “of midday”.^[6][1] Vitruvius uses it of the afternoon shadow of a sundial, Livy of an afternoon guard, Seneca of the afternoon part of the day and of an “afternoon consul”, Quintilian of afternoon classes, and Suetonius of the afternoon hours.^[6]

The TLL finds the full spelling in the records of the Secular Games under Septimius Severus and generally in the manuscripts, while editors restored posm- in some passages of Cicero.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the afternoon.^[6][7]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius speaks of the afternoon shadow of a sundial.^[6][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of an afternoon guard post.^[6][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the afternoon part of the day.^[6][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian speaks of afternoon classes.^[6][7]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of the afternoon hours.^[6][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the afternoon, happening in the afternoon.^[1][6][2][4]

Related words

• merīdiēs
• merīdiānus
• antemerīdiānus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill