stello Latin · revision 36682

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=la stēlla}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsteːl.loː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈstɛl.lo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''stēllō''' (present infinitive stēllāre, perfect active stēllāvī, supine stēllātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|stēlla|-ō|t1=star]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Gaffiot 2016) The OLD allows that it may instead be a back-formation from [[m|la|stēllātus|t=starry]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ At first it is found only in the present participle ''stēllāns'', “starry”:^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lucretius writes ''caelō stēllante'', “in the starry sky”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The participle was poetic: Cicero in his verse, Virgil, Ovid and Valerius Flaccus use it of the starry sky and of night.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was transferred to things that glitter, such as the jewels of a peacock's tail in Ovid,^(Lewis & Short 1879) the flight of glow-worms in Pliny the Elder,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and gleaming arms in Ammianus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Finite forms of the transitive verb, “to set with stars”, appear only after Augustus and are rare:^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder says that certain gems are marked with stars in the number and arrangement of the Hyades,^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Martianus Capella uses it of the sky.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Conte 2010) Symmachus uses it figuratively.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) English [[m|en|stellate]] comes from its participle ''stēllātus''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius has ''caelō stēllante''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses ''stēllāns'' of the sky.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the finite verb of gems.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 340–402 AD – Symmachus uses it figuratively.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1500 – English ''stellate'', from the participle ''stēllātus'', is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(intransitive, mostly in the present participle)'' To be set with stars;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''stēllāns'', [[m|en|starry]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive, transferred)'' To [[m|en|glitter]], gleam.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To set with stars, furnish with star-like points of light.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To [[m|en|stud]], adorn.^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stēlliō]]

+ * [[en|stellate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Georges and Gaffiot also record ''stēllō'' as a spelling of [[stēlliō]], the name of a kind of lizard, cited from the grammarian Caper.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}