series

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsɛ.ri.eːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.ri.es]^[1]

Forms

seriēs f (genitive seriēī); fifth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sero (“to join, link, bind”) + -iēs.^[2][1] Döderlein compared Greek Ancient Greek εἴρω (eírō, “to string together”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in On the Laws, speaks of a chain of facts and thoughts.^[4] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a row of things linked together, as Livy's line of ships towed together and Curtius' chain of fetters, and a file of people following each other, as Tibullus' dancing youths.^[2][6] Lewis & Short note that the literal sense is mostly post-classical and not in Cicero.^[7] Figuratively it was a sequence of events or times, and per seriem meant in succession, while Horace praises the power of order and connection in style.^[2] It was also a line of ancestors or descendants, as in Propertius and Ovid.^[2][6] Döderlein contrasts series, an outward row of like things, with ordo, an inner, necessary order.^[3]

In medieval Latin it meant the wording or contents of a document, an account and a charter.^[8][5] English series is recorded in the 1610s.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a chain of facts.^[4][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of order in style.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a line of ships.^[2][5]
• 1610s – Borrowed into English as series.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A row, chain of linked things; a file of people.^[2][7]
2. A succession, sequence, series.^[2][1]
3. A line of ancestors or descendants.^[2][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) The text or contents of a document; an account.^[8]

Related words

• ordo
• English series

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com