aerius Latin · revision 31776

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=81/79–52/50 BC, Catullus|origins=grc ἀήρ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [aːˈɛ.ri.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [aˈɛː.ri.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''āerius''' (feminine āeria, neuter āerium); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ A rarer form is ''āereus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ It is scanned with four syllables.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ἀέριος|tr=aérios|t=of the air, misty]], from [[grc|ἀήρ|tr=aḗr|t=air, mist]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)^(TLL) The TLL treats it as formed from Latin [[āēr]] with the Greek word as model.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Catullus has airy mists,^(OLD 2012) and Lucretius birds of the air;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler's first source is Cicero.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means “of the air, in the air”, and ''āeriae aurae'' is the upper air, as Virgil's spear hurled into the airy breezes.^(OLD 2012) It is used of things flying or moving through the air, as the flight of birds in Cicero's ''Topica'', and of things reaching high, as Catullus' lofty peak of a snowy mountain.^(OLD 2012) Virgil uses it of the heavenly seat of the gods, and Lucretius of the airy parts of the world, air as an element.^(OLD 2012) Lewis and Short call it a poetic word that Cicero uses only in elevated passages.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the air as an element.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of misty clouds and a lofty peak.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of the upper air and of heaven.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1600 – English [[m|en|aerial]] is formed from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the [[m|en|air]], [[m|en|aerial]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''āeriae aurae'', the upper air.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Flying or moving through the air.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Reaching high, [[m|en|lofty]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Heavenly.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Of air as an element.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aereus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[āēr]]

+ * [[en|aerial]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}