austerus Latin · revision 33841

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=grc αὐστηρός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [au̯sˈteː.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [au̯sˈtɛː.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''austērus''' (feminine austēra, neuter austērum, comparative austērior); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|αὐστηρός|tr=austērós|t=harsh, bitter, sour]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Etymonline notes that the Greek word was used especially of fruits that dry the tongue.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cato uses it in the ''De agri cultura'' of dry dark wine,^(OLD 2012) and Lucilius of the juices of very bitter herbs.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is of taste, sour or harsh, and of wine, dry: Celsus and Columella use it so.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder extends it to a pungent smell, a dark, sombre colour of purple dye, and a harsh climate.^(OLD 2012) Of people and conduct it is strict, stern or austere: Cicero uses it in the ''De oratore'' of severe critics and of a sweetness in an orator that is austere and solid.^(OLD 2012) Of style it is plain and unornamented, as Horace says of austere poems that the young knights pass by.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein contrasts it with ''sevērus'': the ''austērus'' seeks the serious and real in learning and company, at the risk of seeming dull, while severity is a moral quality.^(Döderlein 1874) Forms of the third declension (''austēr'', ''austēre'') occur in Scribonius Largus and Celsus,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and the grammarians argued over them.^(TLL) In Medieval Latin it can mean steady or powerful.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|austere]] comes from it, partly through Old French, in the early 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato, of dry wine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius, of bitter herbs.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of stern critics.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace, of plain poems.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 14th century – [[m|en|austere]] appears in English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Sour, bitter, harsh in taste; of wine, dry.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a smell, [[m|en|pungent]]; of colour, dark, sombre; of climate, rigorous.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|austere|alt=Austere]], strict, [[m|en|stern]]; of work, rigorous.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Of style, plain, unornamented, severe.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Steady, powerful.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[austēritās]]

+ * [[austerulus]]

+ * [[subaustērus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sevērus]]

+ * [[en|austere]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}