Etymologically
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verticalis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɛr.tɪˈkaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ver.tiˈkaː.lis][1]

Forms

verticālis (neuter verticāle, adverb verticāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vertex + -ālis, from the noun for the crown of the head and highest point.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges and Gaffiot quote it from the Roman land surveyors (the Gromatici), meaning vertical, perpendicular;[2][4][3] Köbler dates its first record, in the Liber coloniarum, to the 5th century AD.[5]

Semantic evolution

After the surveyors' “perpendicular”,[2][3] Medieval Latin used it of the pope as the highest in the hierarchy of the Church.[6][1] In Neo-Latin astronomy it meant “standing over the head”: Conrad Celtis wrote of the stars overhead of Germany and of a city as sidera verticalia.[7][1] New Latin taxonomy used it for “whirled”.[1]

Italian verticale continues the Late Latin word,[3] and German vertikal was borrowed from it.[5] English vertical (1550s, first “directly overhead”) came through French from Late Latin verticalis.[8]

Timeline

  • 5th century AD – The Liber coloniarum uses it, Köbler's first record.[5]
  • 1540s – French vertical is formed from the Late Latin word.[8]
  • 1550s – English vertical is first recorded, meaning “directly overhead”.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Vertical, perpendicular.[2][4][3]
  2. (Medieval Latin, of the pope) Highest in the ecclesiastical hierarchy.[6]
  3. (New Latin, astronomy) Situated directly overhead, at the zenith.[7][1]
  4. (New Latin, taxonomy) Whirled.[1]

Word family

  • verticāliter

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com