postis Latin · revision 2904

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *steh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔs.tɪs], [ˈpɔs.tiːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔs.tis], [ˈpɔs.tis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''postis''' ''m'' (genitive postis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*po(r)sti-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*pr̥-sth₂-i-|t=standing forth]] or *po-sth₂-i- “standing upright”, a compound of a preverb and the root [[m|ine-pro|*steh₂-|t=to stand]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ On the first view it is cognate with [[sa|पृष्ठ|tr=pṛṣṭhá-|t=back, ridge]] and [[lt|pir̃štas|t=finger]], and on the second with [[non|fastr|t=firm]] and [[ang|fæst|t=firm, fixed]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards, mostly in the plural.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In the ''Mostellaria'' a slave says, “just look at the doorposts, how solidly made they are”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a [[m|en|doorpost]] or jamb, and also the stile of a door, into which the pivots were set.^(OLD 2012) In the plural it stood for the door itself, as in Virgil.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913) Cicero tells of a law fixed to the doorpost of the senate house, and ''postem tenere'', to hold the doorpost, was part of dedicating a temple.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Lucretius used it figuratively for the eyes, the doors of sight.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Medieval Latin used it for a pole, a pile or a post in general, as of a mill.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS) It survives as Spanish and Portuguese ''poste'' and French ''poteau'', and English ''post'' “pillar” comes from it through both Old English and Old French.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for doorposts.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of a law fixed to a doorpost.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the plural for a door.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

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

+ # The stile of a door.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' A door.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|post]], pole, pile.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[postīcus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[porta]]

+ * [[en|post]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ English ''post'' “mail” and ''post'' “position” are different words, from Italian ''posta'' and ''posto'', which go back to Latin [[positum]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}