zeta

Forms

zēta n or f (indeclinable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ζῆτα (zêta, “zeta”), the name of the Greek letter.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Porphyrio, in his commentary on Horace, uses it as a numeral for the sixth book of the Iliad.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is the name of the Greek letter zeta and of the Latin letter ⟨Z⟩.^[1][2] In Medieval Latin it also named a critical sign used to mark a mistake.^[6] English took the letter name from Late Latin zeta through Old French as zed, recorded from the late 12th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Porphyrio uses it for the sixth book of the Iliad.^[3][4][8]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius names the letter in his Technopaegnion.^[2][3][8]
• late 12th century – English zed goes back to it through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The Greek letter zeta (Ζ, ζ); also the letter Z.^[2][3][1]
2. As a numeral, the sixth book of the Iliad.^[3][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) A critical sign marking a mistake.^[6]

Usage notes

A different word spelled zēta (first declension, “room, chamber”) is a form of diaeta;^[3][2][4] it occurs in the Historia Augusta.^[4][5] In Late Latin ⟨z⟩ often stood for ⟨di⟩ before a vowel at the start of a word.^[1] Niermeyer records this zeta in Medieval Latin as a hall or dining room and as a watch-tower.^[6]

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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de