porticus Latin · revision 30979

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *per-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈpɔr.tɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɔr.ti.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''porticus''' ''f'' (genitive porticūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is masculine once in Petronius.^(OLD 2012)

+ An inscription has the second-declension plural ''porticōs''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably formed from [[m|la|porta|t=gate]] with the suffix [[m|la|-cus]], taking the fourth declension after [[m|la|domus|t=house]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) De Vaan traces ⟨porta⟩ to [[itc-pro|*portā-|t=gate, door]] and a participle [[ine-pro|*pr̥-to-|t=crossed]] of the root [[ine-pro|*per-|t=to cross]], cognate with [[osc|púrtam|t=gate]] and [[goh|furt|t=ford]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author, who speaks of pacing out all the colonnades.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In a tragedy of Ennius the wounded fill the porticoes of Aesculapius.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a covered walk with a roof on columns, a colonnade or portico.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Caesar it is a covered way in siegeworks, and in Calpurnius the gallery at the top of an amphitheatre, where the poor watched.^(OLD 2012) It is above all the Stoa at Athens where Zeno taught, and so the Stoic school: Cicero has Chrysippus, thought to prop up the Porch of the Stoics.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “porch, vestibule”.^(Stelten 1995) In Medieval Latin it is the narthex at the west end of a church and the apse or ambulatory at the east end.^(Niermeyer 1976) English ''porch'' (c. 1300, through Old French) and ''portico'' (c. 1600, through Italian) both come from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of colonnades.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of the porticoes of Aesculapius.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the Stoic school.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of a covered way in siegeworks.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English [[m|en|porch]].^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – English [[m|en|portico]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|colonnade]], covered walk, [[m|en|portico]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A covered way (in siegeworks); the top gallery of an amphitheatre.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The [[m|en|Stoa]] at Athens; the Stoic school.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A [[m|en|porch]], vestibule.^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The [[m|en|narthex]] of a church; the apse or ambulatory of the choir.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[portex]]

+ * [[porticātiō]]

+ * [[porticuncula]]

+ * [[quadriporticus]]

+ * [[porticula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[porta]]

+ * [[portus]]

+ * [[en|porch]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}