transitorius

Forms

trānsitōrius (feminine trānsitōria, neuter trānsitōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin trānseō + -tōrius, from the verb meaning “to go across”;^[2] L&S derives it from the noun trānsitus (“passage”).^[3] The verb is formed with trāns- on eō¹ (“to go”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ei- (“to go”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Suetonius (c. 75–c. 150 AD) calls a palace of Nero domus transitoria, a house that formed a passage from one place to another.^[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

In its first, concrete sense it described buildings or spaces that gave passage, like the forum transitorium in the Augustan History, and the neuter was used as a noun for a passageway.^[2][3] L&S calls this sense post-Augustan.^[3]

In Christian Latin it came to mean “passing, transitory”: Augustine speaks of a love and delight that are transitory, and Boethius and Cassiodorus use it of a moment and of life.^[3] This was its usual sense in medieval Latin,^[6][7] which also used it of what concerns traffic, and the neuter transitorium for a toll taken at a river crossing.^[6] The adverb trānsitōriē meant “in passing, cursorily”.^[3] English took it, through Old French, as transitory in the late 14th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius names Nero's domus transitoria.^[3][5]
• c. 370 AD – Eutropius uses it of a building with a passage.^[3][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of transitory love and delight.^[3][5]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus speaks of transitory life.^[3][5]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English, through Old French, as transitory.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Affording a passage from one place to another.^[2][3]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Transitory, passing, fleeting.^[3][7][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Relating to traffic.^[6]

Noun

1. (neuter) A passageway.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin, neuter) A toll taken at a river crossing.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com