quadrangulum

Forms

quadrangulum n (genitive quadrangulī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quadrangulus (“four-cornered”), its neuter used as a noun.^[1][2] Georges analyses the word as made from quattuor (“four”) and angulus (“corner, angle”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges cites it from Varro's Menippean Satires,^[3] written by an author of 116–27 BC,^[4] in the sense of a four-sided figure.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare: Lewis and Short know it only from a Latin–Greek glossary, where it renders τετράγωνον (tetrágōnon), as well as from a doubtful passage of Martianus Capella, where other manuscripts read quadriangulo.^[5] Du Cange quotes the same glosses and adds that Pliny and Varro use it.^[6] Wiktionary labels it Late Latin.^[1] English took it over, partly through Old French, as quadrangle.^[2]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in the Menippean Satires.^[3][4]
• late 14th century – English borrows it, partly through Old French, as quadrangle.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A quadrangle, a four-sided plane figure.^[5][3][1]

Related words

• quattuor
• angulus
• English quadrangle

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre