declivis Latin · revision 33904

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 50 BC, Caesar|origins=itc-pro *kle/oiwo-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [deːˈkliː.wɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [deˈkliː.vis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēclīvis''' (neuter dēclīve, comparative dēclīvior); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|dē-|t=down]] and [[m|la|clīvus|t=slope, hill]] with the adjective ending ⟨-is⟩, like [[m|la|acclīvis]] and [[m|la|prōclīvis]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|clīvus]] to [[itc-pro|*kle/oiwo-]] and [[ine-pro|*ḱloi-uo-|t=slope, hill]] or [[ine-pro|*ḱlei-u̯o-|t=sloping]], with cognates such as [[lt|šleĩvas|t=bow-legged]] and [[goh|hlēo|t=grave mound]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Caesar,^(Köbler 2010) who in the ''Gallic War'' describes a hill sloping evenly from the top down to the river Sabis.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is used of ground that slopes downwards: Caesar has places sloping and steep, and the neuter ''dēclīve'' as a noun for a slope;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Sallust, Horace and Ovid use it too.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short note it is frequent in historians and poets but perhaps not in Cicero or Virgil.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of things that move it means falling: Ovid has rivers running downhill and Lucan their downward course,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Pliny the Elder has the sun declining towards its setting.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively Ovid speaks of the downhill path of old age, and Pliny the Younger of a woman well on in years, ''aetāte dēclīvis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Arnobius uses it of souls inclined to vice.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Manuscripts often confuse it with [[dēclīnis]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of a sloping hill.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust of a sloping expanse of land.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of rivers and of old age.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 297–310 AD – Arnobius of souls prone to vice.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Sloping downwards, [[m|en|sloping]], [[m|en|shelving]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Moving downwards, falling;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''(of stars, the sun)'' [[m|en|decline|alt=declining]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''aetāte dēclīvis'', well on in years;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''(of the soul)'' inclined (to vice).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(neuter)'' A slope, [[m|en|declivity]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dēclīvirōstris]]

+ * [[indēclīvis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dēclīnō]]

+ * [[clīvus]]

+ * [[acclīvis]]

+ * [[prōclīvis]]

+ * [[dēvexus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}