septimana

Forms

septimāna f (genitive septimānae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin septimānus (“of the number seven”), its feminine used as a noun in Late Latin in place of hebdomas.^[2][1] The adjective is from Latin septimus (“seventh”) + -ānus.^[3][1]

It survives in Italian settimana and Romanian săptămână.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the Vulgate, where diēs septimānārum is the Jewish feast of weeks, and in the Theodosian Code, in the sense of “week”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Latin used it for the week in all kinds of documents: Bede tells of a man who lived a whole week without food, and Domesday Book of a manor that owed the canons a farm of four weeks.^[6] William of Malmesbury writes that the English dedicated the fourth day of the week to Woden.^[6] It also meant a week's turn of duty,^[7] and the monks who served by turns for a week were septimānāriī.^[2]

In a charter of Philip Augustus of 1186 it is the district around a town that lay under its jurisdiction.^[8]

Timeline

• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses diēs septimānārum for the feast of weeks.^[2][5]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it for “week”.^[2][5]
• 1186 – A charter of Philip Augustus uses it for the district of a town.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A week.^[2][9][7][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) A week's turn of service.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin) The district around a town that lies under its jurisdiction.^[8]

Related words

• septimus
• septem

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c 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 c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson