vertigo

Forms

vertīgō f (genitive vertīginis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vertō (“to turn”) + -īgō.^[2][1][3] Wiktionary also mentions a possible derivation from vertex (“whirl, summit”), with the velar assimilated to the nasal of the suffix in the oblique cases.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from the comic poet Afranius;^[4][3] Lewis & Short, by contrast, thought it perhaps not found before the Augustan period.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is a whirling or spinning movement: of waves in Propertius, of the turning sky and the sea in Ovid, of grinding machines in Apuleius.^[2] Persius uses it of the turning around of a slave at his manumission: one turn makes a Roman citizen.^[2] Lucan and Gellius extend it to the changing cycle of events and of days and nights.^[2]

From Livy on it also means the sensation of spinning, dizziness: some cliffs, Livy says, can hardly be looked down from without dizziness.^[2] Seneca and Pliny the Elder use it as a symptom, of drunkenness or of early pregnancy.^[2] In British Medieval Latin it is found in both senses, from Aldhelm's turning of the sky.^[6] English borrowed it in the early 15th century for dizziness.^[7]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – Afranius is the first to use it.^[4][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of dizziness.^[2][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the turning sky.^[2][3]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of the turning of a slave at his manumission.^[2][3]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as vertigo.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A whirling or spinning movement, gyration.^[2][5]
2. (figurative) A changing cycle of events or seasons.^[2]
3. A spinning sensation, dizziness, giddiness.^[2][5]

Related words

• vertex
• English vertigo

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com