tenus Latin · revision 31936

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=ine-pro *ten-os-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈtɛ.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tenus''' (postposition, + ablative, or + genitive plural)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ De Vaan takes it as a petrified form of the s-stem noun ⟨tenus⟩ “snare”, [[itc-pro|*tenos-|t=snare, stretch]], made from the root of [[m|la|teneō|t=to hold]], [[ine-pro|*ten-os-|t=stretch]]; he rejects Meiser's explanation from an active participle [[m|ine-pro|*tn-u̯os|t=stretching to]].^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary likewise describes it as an accusative of extent of that noun.^(Wiktionary) The OLD compares [[m|la|tendō]] and a Sanskrit adverb.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates the preposition from Lucretius.^(de Vaan 2008) It means right up to or as far as.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It always follows its noun, usually with the ablative singular and, in quotations, with the genitive plural.^(OLD 2012) Its first sense is right up to, as Virgil's sword buried in a side up to the hilt, and with limiting force just as far as, as in Cicero's king who, defeated, was ordered to rule only as far as the Taurus.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Livy uses it of a process carried up to a given stage, gladiatorial shows given sometimes only up to wounds.^(OLD 2012) It also expresses the limit to which something applies, “to the extent of”, as the annalist Quadrigarius' “moved only in mind”.^(OLD 2012) In Church Latin it also means lengthwise or along.^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ It forms adverbs and conjunctions such as [[hactenus|alt=hāctenus]], [[quatenus|alt=quātenus]] and [[eatenus|alt=eātenus]].^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it as a preposition.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a king limited to the land as far as the Taurus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a sword buried up to the hilt.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a process carried up to a stage.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Postposition===

+ # Right up to, as far as; just as far as.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Up to a given stage of a process.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To the extent of, within the limits of.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' Lengthwise, along.^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[prōtinus]]

+ * [[aliquātenus]]

+ * [[eātenus]]

+ * [[hāctenus]]

+ * [[illātenus]]

+ * [[illāctenus]]

+ * [[istāctenus]]

+ * [[itatenus]]

+ * [[mediatenus]]

+ * [[nūllātenus]]

+ * [[quātenus]]

+ * [[quādamtenus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[teneo|alt=teneō]]

+ * [[tendo|alt=tendō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate neuter noun ''tenus'', ''tenoris'', “snare, noose”, occurs in Plautus' ''Bacchides'' and is explained by Nonius as a snare named from stretching; the OLD compares Greek ''ténos''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}