instar Latin · revision 31501

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=116–27 BC, Varro}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈĩː.star]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈin.star]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''īnstar''' ''n'' (indeclinable; found only as nominative or accusative)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain; the OLD calls it doubtful and Wiktionary obscure.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Lewis and Short and Walde–Hofmann connect it with [[m|la|in-]] and the root of [[stō|t=to stand]], as if “to stand in” and so “balance”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan objects that a Latin infinitive was not used as a neuter noun, that the loss of the final ⟨-e⟩ would be unusual and that the meaning fits poorly, since ⟨instō⟩ means “to press on”; he suggests instead an old compound ⟨*(h₁e)n-steh₂-os⟩ “the standing in”, “the cost”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Varro,^(de Vaan 2008) who speaks of an author who removed from Mago's work the equivalent of eight books.^(OLD 2012) Köbler gives Cicero.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the equivalent in measure, counterpart or equal, as Varro's ''laena'', a cloak worth two togas in wool, and the equivalent in effect or worth, as Cicero's “that one day on which I returned to my country was for me the equal of immortality”.^(OLD 2012) With a genitive it expresses degree, as Catullus' man who has not the sense of a two-year-old boy, and ''ad instar'' is according to the pattern of something, as Apuleius' hair that gives back an image like a mirror.^(OLD 2012) Lewis and Short also give image or likeness.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin uses it for image, likeness or appearance, and with a genitive “like, after the fashion of”.^(Stelten 1995) In medieval Latin it is also a pattern, model or sample, and a copy.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of the equivalent of eight books.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a day worth immortality.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of a man with a toddler's sense.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius with ''ad instar''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The equivalent in measure, [[m|en|counterpart]], equal.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The equivalent in effect or worth.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # With a genitive, to the extent of, as much as.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''ad instar'': after the pattern of, like.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # An image, [[m|en|likeness]], resemblance.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A pattern, [[m|en|model]], sample; a copy.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stō]]

+ * [[instō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}