Etymologically
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serenitas

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sɛˈreː.nɪ.taːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [seˈrɛː.ni.tas][1]

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]
  • 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