Etymologically
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sursum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsuːr.sũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsur.sum][1]

Forms

sūrsum (not comparable)[1] It is also found as sūsum, sursus and sūsus.[2][3] An inscription has sursuorsum.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + vorsum (“turned towards”), a contracted form.[2][3][1] vorsum is an adverb from the root of vertō (“to turn”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Naevius.[5] In the OLD's earliest quotation, from Naevius, a king raises his hands up to heaven.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is upwards, often in contrast with deorsum, and is strengthened as ⟨sursum versus⟩: Plautus has ⟨sursum vorsum⟩.[2] It also means above, on high: Varro contrasts people living in the lowlands with those living up in the hills.[2] Lewis & Short call it classical and very frequent.[3] Cato has the form ⟨sūsum⟩, Lucretius ⟨sursus⟩, and Augustine and Lactantius ⟨sūsum⟩ again.[3] In the liturgy ⟨sursum corda⟩ is the call “lift up your hearts”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of hands raised to heaven.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has sursum vorsum.[2][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato has the form susum.[3][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of people living on high ground.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Upwards, up;[2][3][1][6] sursum versus, upwards.[2][3][1][6]
  2. Above, on high.[2][1]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) sursum corda, lift up your hearts.[6]

Word family

  • dēsūrsum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson