trivium

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtrɪ.wi.ũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtriː.vi.um]^[1]

Forms

trivium n (genitive triviī or trivī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of trivius “of three roads”,^[1] from Latin tri- + via (“road”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in On Divination, tells a story in which a man reached a crossroads.^[5][6] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a place where three roads meet, a fork, and so any public place, a square or street, as Cicero speaks of things said in triviīs aut in compitīs “at crossroads and street corners”.^[2][5] Lucretius and Virgil use it of public places, and an inscription names a god of the crossroads.^[6][7]

Bede says the word of God was preached not only in churches but at crossroads and in the countryside.^[8] In medieval education it was the three lower liberal arts, grammar, logic and rhetoric.^[9][1] Its descendants include Italian trebbio.^[1] English trivial goes back to its derivative triviālis, and English trivium is a borrowing.^[4][1]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a crossroads.^[5][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a public place.^[6][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A place where three roads meet, a crossroads.^[2][1]
2. A public place, the street.^[5][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) The trivium, grammar, logic and rhetoric.^[9][1]

Related words

• bivia
• bivium
• bivius
• quadriviālis
• quadrivium
• quadrivius
• trivia
• triviālis
• triviāliter
• triviātim
• via
• English trivium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill