sedentarius

Forms

sedentārius (feminine sedentāria, neuter sedentārium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sedēns (“sitting”) + -ārius,^[2][1] from the present participle of sedeō (“to sit”).^[3] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *sed-ē- (“to be seated”), from Proto-Indo-European *sed-eh₁- (“to be seated”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus on.^[4] In the Aulularia it describes cobblers, who work sitting down.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

L&S call it very rare.^[5] It was used of persons and occupations done sitting, as of work in Columella,^[2][5][6] and of conditions that come with sitting: Pliny the Younger’s “necessity of assenting while seated”, without rising to speak,^[5][6] and Apuleius’ fatigue from sitting.^[5]

English borrowed it in the 1590s as sedentary, from French and directly from Latin, first of assemblies that stay in one place.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus calls cobblers sedentary.^[5][6][7]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of work done sitting.^[5][6][7]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius speaks of fatigue from sitting.^[5][7]
• 1590s – English borrows it as sedentary.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Working while seated, sedentary.^[2][5]
2. Done or caused by sitting.^[2][5]

Related words

• sedes
• sella
• English sedentary

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de