rotatus

Forms

rotātus m (genitive rotātūs); fourth declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin rotō (“to whirl, turn round”) + -tus, an action noun of the fourth declension.^[1][3] The verb is formed from rota (“wheel”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Statius has it in the Achilleid, of the whirl with which the Paeonians hurl their weapons (quo Paeones arma rotatu .. citent).^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare in Classical Latin: the OLD gives only the passage of Statius, and Lewis & Short add one from Ausonius, both meaning a turning or whirling round.^[1][5] Georges also cites Chalcidius.^[3]

In British medieval Latin it became the ordinary word for a rotating motion about a centre or axis: the orbit of a heavenly body, the turns of a dance, and figuratively the turning wheel of fortune and the instability of human affairs.^[6] Du Cange records it as a synonym of circumvolutio.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of the whirl with which weapons are hurled.^[1][4]
• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius has it in his commentary on the Timaeus.^[3][4]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses it of a turning round.^[5][4]
• 12th–13th century – British writers use it of the orbit of the planets through the zodiac.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action of whirling something round, or of hurling it with a whirl (of a weapon).^[1]
2. A turning or whirling round, rotation.^[5][3][2]
3. (Medieval Latin) Revolution about a centre or axis;^[6] (astronomy) the orbital motion of a heavenly body.^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin) A turn in dancing or acrobatics.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin, figurative) The turning of fortune's wheel; the instability of human affairs.^[6]

Usage notes

Rotātus, -a, -um is also the perfect participle of rotō.^[2][8] Du Cange records it in medieval Latin for a person broken on the wheel, and for cloth decorated with wheel-shaped figures.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f 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
7. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier