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statura

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word statura

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (stō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sto
French étage
Latin asto
Latin astus
Latin astutus
Latin astutia
Latin circumsto
Latin statura
Latin substo
Latin statio
Latin stativus
Latin prosto
Latin persto
Latin supersto

Forms

statūra f (genitive statūrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin stō (“to stand”) + -ūra.[2][3][4] Lewis & Short connect it with status and take its first sense as "an upright posture".[5] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *sta-ē-je/o- (“to stand”) and Proto-Indo-European *sth₂-eh₁-ie/o-.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[3] who describes a man of fitting stature and one not tall.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is the height of the body standing upright, stature.[2][5] Cicero asks what face and what stature a certain man had, and speaks of how well the body's shape, form and stature suit nature.[5] The Rhetorica ad Herennium wants a lyre player whose stature suits his dignity, and Caesar has men of such small stature.[5][4] Columella extends it to the size of cattle and to the height of a shoot.[4] Medieval Latin keeps the sense of a man's height,[7] and British sources also use it of other things' height and, figuratively, of a lofty position.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a man's stature.[5][3]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius.[5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a person's stature.[5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of cattle and plants.[4]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of a tall man.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The height of the body standing upright, stature.[2][5][1][9]
  2. The size of an animal or the height of a plant.[4]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Height or extent of a thing;[8] (figurative) a lofty position.[8]

Word family

  • staturosus

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b c 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Statura.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/statura. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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