serenitas

Forms

serēnitās f (genitive serēnitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin serēnus (“clear, fair”) + -tās.^[2][1][3] De Vaan derives ⟨serēnus⟩ from Proto-Italic *(k)seró- (“dry”) and Proto-Indo-European *Kseh₁-ró- (“dry”), both built on an unattested present meaning to be dry.^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek ξηρός (xērós, “dry”) and Old High German serawēn (“to dry out”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[3] who writes in On Divination that there is sometimes fair weather and sometimes a disturbance of the sky.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant clear, bright, dry weather:^[2][5] Livy describes fair weather returning after a storm, Seneca the clearness of the sky, Pliny the Elder the salamander that appears in heavy rain and disappears in fine weather, and Columella, in the plural, spells of fine weather.^[2]

Figuratively it meant favourable circumstances and a calm, cheerful disposition: Livy warns against trusting too much in the fair weather of present fortune, Seneca says an insult cannot cloud his calm, and Gellius writes of the serenity of a Stoic's face.^[2][6] From Vegetius on it was a title of the emperor, Your Serenity.^[5][6] Medieval Latin kept this title,^[7] and British writers gave it to kings and popes and also used the word for calm at sea.^[8] English serenity comes from it, partly through Old French.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of fair weather.^[2][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it figuratively of favourable fortune.^[2][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of calmness of mind.^[2][3]
• c. 400 AD – Vegetius uses it as a title of the emperor.^[5][3]
• mid-15th century – Borrowed into English as serenity for fair, calm weather.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Clear, fair weather; in the plural, spells of fine weather.^[2][5]
2. (figurative) Favourable circumstances; calm, cheerful tranquillity.^[2][6]
3. (Late Latin) A title of the emperor, Your Serenity.^[5][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Calm at sea.^[8]

Related words

• serēnē
• serēnifer
• serēnificus
• serēnō
• serēnum
• serēnus
• English serenity

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com