Etymologically
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trigeminus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [trɪˈɡɛ.mɪ.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [triˈd͡ʒɛː.mi.nus][1]

Forms

trigeminus (feminine trigemina, neuter trigeminum); first/second-declension adjective[1] A by-form tergeminus is mostly poetic.[2] The jurist Paulus has treg-.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin tri- (“three”) + geminus (“twin”).[3][1][4] De Vaan traces geminus to Proto-Italic *jemno- (“paired”) and Proto-Indo-European *iemH-no- (“paired, connected”), with initial /g/ probably taken from gignō (“to beget”).[5] Cognate with Old Irish emon (“twin”) and Sanskrit यम (yamá-, “twin”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[5][6] whose Miles Gloriosus promises someone twins and triplets if he keeps well: tibi sunt gemini et trigemini, si te bene habes, filii.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means born as one of triplets, and as a noun a triplet;[3] Livy has trigeminī frātrēs, and Pliny the Elder cites the Horatii and Curiatii as proof that triplets are born.[2] It also means forming a set of three, threefold, as Horatius carrying the triple spoils in Livy.[3] The Porta Trigemina was a gate of Rome with three arches, already in Plautus.[3][1] English trigeminal was formed on it in anatomy in 1815, and by 1830 was used of the nerves divided into three branches.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of triplets and of the Porta Trigemina.[3][5][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of the triplet brothers and their triple spoils.[3][2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of the birth of triplets.[2][6]
  • 1815 – English trigeminal, in anatomy.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Born three at a birth; as a noun, a triplet.[3][2][1]
  2. Threefold, triple.[3][1]
  3. porta trigemina: a gate of Rome with three arches.[3]

Word family

  • trigeminō
  • bigeminus
  • centumgeminus
  • quadrigeminus
  • septemgeminus
  • geminus
  • tergeminus
  • English trigeminal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de