quadrivium Latin · revision 10038

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Catullus|origins=la quattuor, la via}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [kʷaˈdrɪ.wi.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kʷaˈdriː.vi.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''quadrivium''' ''n'' (genitive quadriviī or quadrivī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Also spelled ''quadruvium''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[quattuor]] “four” and [[via]] “road”, through the adjective ⟨quadrivius⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan traces ⟨via⟩ to [[itc-pro|*wijā-|t=road]], [[ine-pro|*wih₁-éh₂-|t=pursuit]], cognate with Oscan ⟨víú⟩ “road”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's earliest source is Catullus, and Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite his ''in quadriviīs et angiportīs'' “at crossroads and in alleys”.^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Köbler dates Catullus 81/79–52/50 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a place where four roads meet, a crossroads, as in Catullus and Juvenal.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Medieval Latin used it for the four higher liberal arts (arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy).^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Etymonline) British Medieval Latin used it also as a place name, Carfax in Oxford.^(DMLBS) English ''quadrivium'' (by 1751) is from it, and Old French ''carroge'' “crossroads” is inherited from it.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * by 1751 – English ''quadrivium'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|crossroads]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The [[m|en|quadrivium]], the four mathematical arts.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quattuor]]

+ * [[via]]

+ * [[trivium]]

+ * [[bivium]]

+ * [[en|quadrivium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}