traiectus

Forms

trāiectus m (genitive trāiectūs); fourth declension^[1] Inscriptions have the spelling ⟨trēiectus⟩.^[2] Caesar writes ⟨trānsiectus⟩.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin trāiciō (“to throw across, cross”) + -tus.^[2][4][5] That verb is trāns (“across”) and iaciō (“to throw”);^[1] de Vaan derives ⟨iaciō⟩ from Proto-Italic *jak-i- (“to throw”) and the root Proto-Indo-European *(H)ieh₁- (“to throw, let go”).^[6] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἵημι (híēmi, “to send, let go, throw”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is from a tragedy of Accius, who uses the plural of ways through the woods.^[2][7] Köbler dates it from Livy.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the act of crossing a river or strait:^[2][4] Caesar uses it of being cut off from a march or a crossing, Livy of a man drowned while crossing the river Albula, and Suetonius of Augustus twice caught by a storm during a crossing.^[2][3] Lewis and Short note that Cicero does not use it, but says trāiectiō instead.^[3] From this came a route across, often with its length: Caesar writes of the shortest crossing to Britain, and Livy and Pliny the Elder give the distances of crossings by sea.^[2][7] It also meant a crossing place, as in the Bellum Alexandrinum and Tacitus, and in inscriptions a ferry service.^[2]

Conte notes it in place names, such as Mosae Traiectus, Maastricht.^[7] Niermeyer records the sense ford, already in Hirtius,^[8] and Bede uses it of a crossing of fifty miles from Gessoriacum.^[9]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of ways through the woods.^[2][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the crossing to Britain.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of crossing a river.^[2][5]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a sea crossing.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of a crossing place.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of crossing over (a river or strait), passage.^[2][3]
2. A route across; the distance of a crossing.^[2][7]
3. A crossing place; a ferry.^[2][4]
4. (Medieval Latin) A ford.^[8]

Related words

• trāiciō
• trāiectiō
• iaciō

Usage notes

trāiectus, -a, -um is also the past participle of trāiciō.^[3][7] The OLD gives it no entry of its own, and Gaffiot lists it apart from the noun.^[2][10]

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 n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.