Etymologically
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tempus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛm.pʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛm.pus][1]

Forms

tempus n (genitive temporis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *tempos- (“stretch, measure”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *temp-os (“stretch”), an s-stem meaning “stretching”, then “stretch of time”, then “time, occasion”.[2][1] It shares its root *temp- “to stretch” with templum.[2][3] The OLD calls the origin doubtful, and Lewis and Short and Gaffiot compared Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”).[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a moment or period of time, the right time or occasion, a season of the year, a period in history, as in temporibus Augustī, and the time available for something, as in Terence's “while there is time”.[4] In the plural tempora were also the circumstances or times, often bad times.[6] Phrases include ex tempore “on the spur of the moment” and ad tempus “for the moment”.[4][6] In grammar it was the tense of a verb, and in metre the length of a syllable.[6]

Döderlein contrasts diēs, time in the abstract, with tempus and tempestās, time with a physical reference, such as the weather.[7] In medieval Latin it meant the weather, and quattuor tempora were the Ember Days.[8] The DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */ˈtɛmpus/ “time; weather”, as in Italian tempo and French temps.[9] temporālis gave English temporal, tempestās gave English tempest, and Old French tens gave the grammatical English tense.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][3]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence has “while there is time”.[4][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the last part of the day.[6][3]
  • late 13th century – English tempest is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A moment, period of time.[4]
  2. The right time, occasion.[4]
  3. A season of the year.[4]
  4. (often plural) An age, the times; circumstances.[4][6]
  5. Time available, ex tempore, on the spur of the moment.[4][6]
  6. (grammar) tense, (metre) the length of a syllable.[6]
  7. (Medieval Latin) The weather, quattuor tempora, the Ember Days.[8]

Word family

  • contemporo
  • extempore
  • temperī
  • tempestās
  • temporālis
  • temporāneus
  • temporārius
  • temporātim
  • tempusculum
  • temperō
  • temporī

Usage notes

A different noun tempus, mostly in the plural tempora, meant the temples of the head; through Vulgar Latin *tempula it gave English temple “side of the forehead”.[6][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com