stativus

Forms

statīvus (feminine statīva, neuter statīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin stō (“to stand”) + -īvus.^[2][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that verb.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,^[3] who speaks of stativae aquae, standing waters such as lakes and ponds.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Apart from that sense it is rare: Apuleius uses it of the stationary point of a planet, translating a Greek term.^[2][5] It is chiefly military: a praesidium stativum is a fixed post, and castra stativa a permanent camp, in Cicero, Caesar, Sallust, Livy and Tacitus.^[2][4] Cicero uses it ironically of a governor without an army who made his stationary camp in the finest part of Syracuse.^[2][5] The neuter plural stativa was a permanent camp, and of travellers a halt or resting day.^[2][4] Tertullian contrasts it with ambulatorius, at home and on the road.^[5] Macrobius has feriae stativae, fixed festivals.^[6]

In Late Latin there is also a feminine stativa, a halt.^[5][6] Medieval writers in Britain use it of rest after activity and, as a noun, of a landing place or staithe.^[7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of standing waters.^[2][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses castra stativa and praesidium stativum.^[2][8]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses castra stativa.^[2][8]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses the plural stativa for a permanent camp.^[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Stationary, standing still.^[2][4]
2. (military) Of a camp or post: permanent, fixed.^[2][4]
3. Of festivals: fixed.^[6]

Noun

1. (neuter plural) A permanent camp; of travellers, a halt.^[2][4]
2. (Medieval Latin, feminine) A landing place.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de