sata

Forms

sata n pl (genitive satōrum); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter plural, used as a noun, of satus (“sown”), the participle of serō “to sow”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces that verb to Proto-Italic *si-se/o- (“to sow”) and its participle to Proto-Italic *sato- (“sown”) and Proto-Indo-European *sh₁-to-, comparing Lithuanian sė́ti (“to sow”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short first quote it as a noun from Virgil's Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It names cultivated plants, crops, standing grain, as in Virgil and Ovid.^[2][3] It is also plants in general: Quintilian says Aristotle investigated the nature of all animals and plants.^[2] In poetry it can be offspring.^[2] The OLD notes that the singular is also found, and Wiktionary adds the sense farmland, fields.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil of crops.^[3][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid.^[3][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of plants in general.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (plural) Cultivated plants, crops, standing grain.^[2][3][1]
2. Plants in general.^[2]
3. (poetic) Offspring.^[2]
4. Farmland, fields.^[1]

Related words

• serō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de