Etymologically
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una

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈuː.na], [ˈuː.naː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈuː.na], [ˈuː.na][1]

Forms

ūnā (not comparable)[1] An inscription spells it oina.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from ūnus (“one”), with the ending of extrā and similar adverbs.[2][3] ūnus goes back to Proto-Italic *oino- and Proto-Indo-European *Hoi-no- (“one”);[4] Old Latin has ⟨oino⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[3] who has mandāta erī periērunt ūnā et Sōsia, “my master's orders have perished, and Sosia with them”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Ūnā is “in one company, together”, of two or more people or things, and “at the same time, in the same action”.[2][1] Wiktionary adds “in the same place”.[1]

Church Latin glosses it “together, at the same place”, and ūnā simul “at the same time”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: periērunt ūnā et Sōsia.[2][3]
  • early 8th century – Bede uses it.[3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. together, in company.[2][1][5]
  2. At the same time, simultaneously.[2][1][5]
  3. In the same place.[1][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson