Etymologically
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solstitium

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [soːɫˈstɪ.ti.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [solˈstit.t͡si.um][1]

Forms

sōlstitium n (genitive sōlstitiī or sōlstitī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sol (“sun”) + sisto (“to stand, stop”) + -ium, the time when the sun seems to stand still.[2][3][1] Isidore of Seville explained it as the sun's standing, sōlis statiō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato, in On Agriculture, reckons farm work by it, as grafting pears in spring and around the summer solstice.[2][5] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant either solstice, and especially the summer solstice, the longest day, as in Varro and Cicero, opposite bruma, the winter solstice.[2][7] By transfer it was the season of the summer solstice and its heat: Virgil tells farmers to pray for wet summers and clear winters.[2][5] Lewis & Short note that the general sense of either solstice is common only after the Augustan period, as in Columella's solstitium aestīvum and hībernum.[3]

Medieval writers used it of both solstices.[8] English solstice is recorded in the mid-13th century, through Old French.[9]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato dates farm work by the solstice.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of summer weather.[2][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella distinguishes the summer and winter solstice.[3][6]
  • mid-13th century – English solstice is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A solstice, summer or winter.[2][3]
  2. The summer solstice, the longest day.[2][1]
  3. Midsummer, the heat of summer.[2][5]

Word family

  • sōlstitiālis

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 c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ 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