annus Latin · revision 2974

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Naevius|origins=ine-pro *h₂et-no-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈan.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈan.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''annus''' ''m'' (genitive annī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*atno-|t=year]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₂et-no-]], from a root meaning “to go, wander”, so that the year was “the one that goes round”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) It replaced the inherited word for “year”, [[ine-pro|*wétos]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[osc|akenei|t=in the year]], [[xum|acnu|t=years]]^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) and [[got|𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌸𐌽𐌹|tr=ataþni|t=year]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Ancient grammarians connected it with [[m|la|ānus|t=ring]]: Varro said the year was so named because it returns on itself like a ring, and Isidore repeats the idea.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan finds it from Naevius onwards.^(de Vaan 2008)^(DÉRom) Ennius writes that someone “lay hidden many years”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the natural year of the sun's course and a period of twelve months, as well as the civil year, which began on 1 January or 1 March.^(OLD 2012) It meant a year of office, and ''annus meus'' was the year in which the law let a man stand for an office.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It gave people's ages (''annos natus'', “years old”) and the dates of events.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Poets used it for the season and for the year's harvest, as when Lucan says Libya “bore a great year” after heavy rain.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In the Middle Ages dates were given by the regnal year, as in ''agno regnante Philippo rege'' in a Catalan charter,^(GMLC) and English medieval law spoke of possession for “a year and a day”.^(DMLBS) It survives in all the Romance languages, as Sardinian ''annu'', Romanian ''an'', Italian ''anno'' and French ''an''.^(DÉRom)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for a span of years.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''annus meus'' for the legal year of candidacy.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 941 – A Catalan charter spells it ''agno''.^(GMLC)

+ * c. 1150 – A London custom grants land held unchallenged for a year and a day.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|year]], the course of the sun.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A period of twelve months.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A civil or calendar year.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A year of office, ''annus meus'' the year in which one may lawfully stand for office.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # A year of age, ''annos natus'' years old.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(poetic)'' A [[m|en|season]]; the year's [[m|en|harvest]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[annālis]]

+ * [[annarius]]

+ * [[anniculus]]

+ * [[annifer]]

+ * [[anniversārius]]

+ * [[annō]]

+ * [[annōna]]

+ * [[annōsus]]

+ * [[annōtinus]]

+ * [[annuus]]

+ * [[perennis]]

+ * [[quadriennis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|annual]]

+ * [[en|anniversary]]

+ * [[en|millennium]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is a different word from ''ānus'' “ring; anus”, with a long ''a'',^(Georges 1913) though Varro linked the two.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}