prominentia

Forms

prōminentia f (genitive prōminentiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin prōminēns + -ia, from the present participle of prōmineō (“to jut out”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Vitruvius (c. 84–c. 25 BC), of the projection of buttresses in a substructure.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Solinus used it, often in the plural, for promontories and headlands,^[3][4][5] and Caelius Aurelianus for a projection of the body.^[3] In medieval British Latin it named a protuberance or a raised point of land, and it also took the figurative sense of distinction or excellence, as in a papal letter praising someone's outstanding merits.^[7]

English took prominence in the 1590s from French, itself from Latin prominentia.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it in architecture for a projection.^[4][6]
• first half of the 3rd century AD – Solinus uses it for promontories.^[3][4][6]
• 1235 – A papal letter uses it of outstanding merit.^[7]
• 1590s – English borrows prominence through French.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The fact of jutting out, a projection.^[2][3]
2. (architecture) A projecting part of a structure.^[4][5]
3. A promontory, headland.^[3][4][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) A protuberance.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) Distinction, excellence.^[7]

Related words

• English prominence

References

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