Etymologically
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spectrum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈspɛk.trũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈspɛk.trum][1]

Forms

spectrum n (genitive spectrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from speciō “to look at” with the suffix -trum, a doublet of speculum.[2][1][3] Its only classical attestation is in letters between Cicero and Cassius, which say that the Epicurean Catius used it to render Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image”), so it may have been his coinage.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero writes to Cassius that what Democritus calls eídōla, the Insubrian Epicurean Catius calls spectra, and Cassius answers with spectra Catiāna.[3][2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Epicurean philosophy it meant an image, an emanation from bodies that causes sight and thought, much less frequent than simulācrum and speciēs.[2][3] Gaffiot glosses it as the simulācra given off by objects.[5] Döderlein explains that spectrum is the apparition of a departed spirit, a supernatural appearance, mōstellum a horrible one.[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant an appearance, and Honorius uses it of apparitions shown by the damned.[7] Wiktionary notes that the word is very sparsely attested after Cicero until Renaissance humanists revived it about 1500 for an apparition.[1] French spectre gave English specter about 1600, and English spectrum in the 1610s meant a phantom, its scientific sense coming later.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero and Cassius discuss Catius' spectra.[3][4]
  • c. 1500 – Humanists revive it for an apparition.[1]
  • c. 1600 – English specter is recorded, through French.[8]
  • 1610s – English spectrum is recorded, as a phantom.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Epicurean philosophy) An image, emanation from bodies.[2][3]
  2. An apparition, specter.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com