septentrio Latin · revision 32764

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *septḿ, la triō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sɛpˈtɛn.tri.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [sepˈtɛn.tri.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''septentriō''' ''m'' (genitive septentriōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is first a plural, ''septentriōnēs'', also spelled ''septemtriōnēs'' or written as two words; the singular came later.^(OLD 2012) Poets split it, as in ''septem … triōnēs''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|septem|triō|t1=seven|t2=plough ox]], the seven plough oxen.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary derives [[m|la|triō]] from [[m|la|terō|t=to rub, tread]], after the way the stars seem to mill round the pole.^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|septem]] to [[itc-pro|*septm̥]] and [[ine-pro|*septḿ|t=seven]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) in whose ''Amphitruo'' the Seven Oxen do not move anywhere in the sky.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is first the seven stars of the Great Bear, the Wain, and in the singular either the Great or the Little Bear, as in Cicero.^(OLD 2012) From the stars it came to mean the north: Varro says Europe lies to the north, Caesar that all Gaul faces north.^(OLD 2012) It is also the northern lands or their peoples, the northern part of an area, and the north wind: Seneca ranks it as the middle of the three northerly winds.^(OLD 2012) An inscription uses it of a brooch set with seven stones.^(OLD 2012) English [[m|en|septentrion]] meant the North from the late 14th century and the constellation from the 1530s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the Seven Oxen.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the Great and Little Bear.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of Gaul facing north.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – English ''septentrion'', the North.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(plural)'' The seven stars of the Great Bear, the [[m|en|Big Dipper]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''(singular)'' the Great or the Little Bear.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|north]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) the northern lands or their peoples.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The north [[m|en|wind]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[septentriōnālis]]

+ * [[septentriōnārius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[septem]]

+ * [[en|septentrion]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}