firmamentum Latin · revision 32757

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=2nd half of 2nd century BC, Afranius|origins=ine-pro *dʰer-mo-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [fɪr.maːˈmɛn.tũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [fir.maˈmɛn.tum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''firmāmentum''' ''n'' (genitive firmāmentī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|firmō|-mentum|t1=to strengthen]], that which strengthens or supports.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|firmus|t=firm]] to [[itc-pro|*fermo-]] and [[ine-pro|*dʰer-mo-|t=holding]], comparing [[sa|धर्मन्|tr=dhárman-|t=support, fixed order, law]].^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary explains the sense “sky” as a rendering in the Vulgate of the Septuagint's [[grc|στερέωμα|tr=steréōma|t=firm or solid structure]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Afranius,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in whom a man seeks a wife as the support of the family.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a support, prop or stay, and the strengthening of a structure: Caesar has cross-beams laid as a support, Livy the strength of a rampart.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short find it classical and frequent in Cicero in a figurative sense, a mainstay: Cicero says truth has too little support and strength.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) In rhetoric it is what supports an argument, the central point of a case.^(OLD 2012) In the Bible it became the firmament, the sky fixed above the earth.^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) In Medieval Latin it was also a roof, a fortification, a confirmation or a charter confirming a grant, and an oath to refrain from hostile acts.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|firmament]] dates from the mid-13th century, from Old French or directly from Latin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd half of 2nd century BC – Afranius of a wife as the support of a family.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the support of truth and of an argument.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of beams as a support.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * mid-13th century – English ''firmament''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A support, [[m|en|prop]], stay; a strengthening.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A mainstay; of persons, a support.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(rhetoric)'' What supports an argument; the main point of a case.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' The [[m|en|firmament]], the sky.^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A roof; a [[m|en|fortification]]; a confirmation, a confirmatory charter.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[firmāmen]]

+ * [[firmātor]]

+ * [[firmē]]

+ * [[firmitās]]

+ * [[firmiter]]

+ * [[firmitūdō]]

+ * [[firmō]]

+ * [[firmus]]

+ * [[en|firmament]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}