Etymologically
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series

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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]

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