sterilis Latin · revision 31239

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *ster-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈstɛ.rɪ.lɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈstɛː.ri.lis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sterilis''' (neuter sterile); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Gellius and Festus have a first/second-declension feminine ''sterila'', and Lucretius a neuter plural ''sterila''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ine-pro|*ster-|t=lacking, sterile]], through a Proto-Italic stem ⟨*ster-eli-⟩ or ⟨*ster-ī-⟩; the ⟨-ili-⟩ may be a diminutive suffix.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Cognate with [[sa|स्तरी|tr=starī́-|t=barren cow]], [[grc|στεῖρα|tr=steîra|t=barren cow or woman]] and [[got|𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍉|tr=stairō|t=infertile]]; in other languages the word went on from “barren” to “not yet having given birth” and “young animal”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author,^(de Vaan 2008) who in the ''Truculentus'' calls a lover “barren of gifts”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is first of women and female animals that bear no offspring, as Lucretius' women long barren in several marriages, of males (Varro's cocks of Tanagra), and of eggs.^(OLD 2012) Of plants and land it is barren or yielding no crops, as Varro's olive tree and the walnuts that make the edge of a farm barren, and of seasons marked by a lack of crops.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) With the genitive or ablative it is lacking in a quality, as Persius' “barren of truth”.^(OLD 2012) By transfer it is yielding no gift or reward, of money bearing no interest, and unprofitable or futile.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “sterile, barren, unfruitful”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a lover barren of gifts.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of barren trees and land.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of barren women.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * mid-15th century – Borrowed into English, partly by way of Old French, as [[m|en|sterile]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # (of women, animals) [[m|en|barren|alt=Barren]], [[m|en|sterile]], (of eggs) infertile.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # (of plants, land, seasons) Bearing no fruit, unproductive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Lacking (in a quality).^(OLD 2012)

+ # Yielding no reward; unprofitable, [[m|en|futile]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sterilescō]]

+ * [[sterilicula]]

+ * [[sterilitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fēcundus]]

+ * [[en|sterile]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}