stellaris

Forms

stēllāris (neuter stēllāre); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin stēlla (“star”) + -āris.^[1][2][3] It is a Late Latin word.^[4][5] Its base stēlla goes back to Proto-Italic *stērlā- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂stēr-s (“star”); de Vaan takes it, with Old Irish sell (“iris”), as an Italo-Celtic formation *stēr-lo-.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian, in De pallio, uses it as a feminine noun (with ars understood) for the science of the stars, astronomy or astrology.^[3][7][4]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective, “of a star, starry”, it appears in Macrobius' commentary on the Dream of Scipio, who speaks of a stellaris essentia, the substance of a star.^[8][3][7] L&S calls it post-classical.^[8]

Medieval Latin used it of the stars and of the nature or qualities linked with them.^[9] English took it over in the 1650s as stellar.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses the noun stēllāris for the science of the stars.^[3][7][2]
• 1st half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses the adjective of a star's substance.^[8][3][2]
• 1650s – Borrowed into English as stellar.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to a star or the stars, starry, stellar.^[8][3][7]

Noun

1. (feminine, with ars understood) The science of the stars, astronomy or astrology.^[3][7][10]

Related words

• stella
• English stellar

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ 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
10. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli