quadriduum
Pronunciation
Forms
quadrīduum n (genitive quadrīduī); second declension[1] It is also spelled quatrīduum.[2][3] The second syllable is apparently long on the analogy of bīduum.[2]
Etymology
It is from Latin quadri- (“four”) + *diuom (“day”), a formation like bīduum (“two days”) and trīduum (“three days”) from the stem of diēs (“day”).[2][4][1][5] De Vaan traces that stem to Proto-Italic *-diwo- (“of the day”) and Proto-Indo-European *di-eu- (“day; sky”).[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Köbler dates it from Plautus,[5] whose Persa has a promise to repay money at once, within three or four days.[2]
Semantic evolution
It is a space of four days.[2][3] In the ablative it means within four days, quadrīduō ante and quadrīduō post four days before and after, or for four days:[2] Cicero mentions a letter received four days earlier and discussions held over four days, and Curtius a halt of four days in one place.[2] Cato, Livy and Curtius use it too.[3]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of repaying in three or four days.[2][5]
- 234–149 BC – Cato.[3]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero of a letter four days old.[2]
- 1st century AD – Curtius of a four-day halt.[2][5]
Meanings
Noun
- A space of four days.[2][3][1]
- (ablative) Within four days;[2] quadrīduō ante, quadrīduō post, four days before, after; for four days.[2]
Word family
- quadrīduānus
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de