semihora

Forms

sēmihōra f (genitive sēmihōrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sēmi- (“half”) + hōra (“hour”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Cicero's speech for Rabirius on a charge of treason, meaning “half an hour”.^[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the one sense “half an hour”.^[2][5] After Cicero it is used by Celsus in his medical work, by Petronius and in the Bellum Africum,^[5][7] and it remained in medieval Latin, as in the Miracles of Henry VI.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in a speech.^[5][4]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it in his medical work.^[5][4]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it.^[5][7][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Half an hour, a half-hour.^[2][5]

Related words

• hōra

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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