Etymologically
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seu

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsɛu̯][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛːu̯][1]

Forms

seu (conjunction)[1]

Etymology

It is the shortened form of sīve, from sī (“if”) and -ve (“or”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has sī ego volō seu nōlō, “whether I like it or not”.[2] Köbler first records it in Terence.[3]

Semantic evolution

Seu has the meanings of sīve: “or if”, and repeated, seu … seu, “whether … or”; it introduces alternative possibilities (“either … or”), a single alternative (“or else”), and a more exact expression (“or rather”, seu potius).[2][1] The OLD notes that seu is rare in most writers of the Republic, except perhaps Caesar, and that the two forms are often combined, especially in verse (Horace: Rōmae seu fors ita iusserit exsul).[2]

Church Latin uses seu … vel for “whether … or”.[4] Medieval Latin also uses it for “and”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: sī ego volō seu nōlō.[2][3]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[3]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace: Rōmae seu fors ita iusserit exsul.[2][3]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. Or if.[2]
  2. seu … seu, whether … or; either … or.[2][1][4]
  3. Or else; or rather.[2][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) And.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill