radiatus

Forms

radiātus (feminine radiāta, neuter radiātum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] The spelling ⟨raiat-⟩ is a vulgar form.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin radius (“ray; spoke”) + -ātus,^[1][2] as an adjective distinct from the perfect participle of radiō (“to shine”).^[2] The origin of radius is unclear; de Vaan finds the old link with rādīx (“root”) unlikely.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first examples are from Accius, who speaks of the sun's “radiant light” and its “flaming, radiant orb”.^[2][4] De Vaan dates it from Varro.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From light furnished with rays it was extended to the sun, stars and gods surrounded by rays, as in Lucretius and Ovid.^[1][2] Suetonius speaks of a radiata corona, a crown with rays.^[2] Things built or growing like rays were called radiatus too: Varro has a wheel fitted with spokes, and Pliny the Elder flower heads arranged like a star.^[1]

In Medieval Latin, with spellings such as rajatus and reatus, it meant striped.^[5] In ecclesiastical Latin it meant provided with rays.^[6]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of the sun's radiant light.^[2][4]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of the radiant light of the sun.^[1][2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro has a wheel fitted with spokes.^[1][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of radiating flower heads.^[1][4]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius mentions a crown with rays.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Furnished with rays of light, radiant.^[1][2]
2. Arranged like rays, radial.^[1]
3. Fitted with spokes.^[1]
4. (Medieval Latin) striped.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson