subterraneus Latin · revision 36772

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la terra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sʊp.tɛrˈraː.ne.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [sub.terˈraː.ne.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''subterrāneus''' (feminine subterrānea, neuter subterrāneum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|sub|t=under]] and [[m|la|terra|t=earth, ground]] with the adjective suffix [[m|la|-āneus]].^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first use is in a letter of Cicero to Atticus, of underground caves (''specūs'') on an estate.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it described anything under the ground: caves, a slave prison (''ergastulum'') in Columella, waters running to the sea through underground veins and underground houses in Pliny the Elder, and mice in Seneca.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Juvenal uses it of the realms of the dead (''subterrānea rēgna''),^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Vitruvius of the part of the sky below the horizon, from which the sun rises.^(OLD 2012) As a neuter noun, ''subterrāneum'' was an underground place in Pliny the Younger and Apuleius.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Medieval British writers used it of tunnels, channels and passages, and figuratively of the innermost part of something; an Old English gloss renders the noun as “earth-house”.^(DMLBS) English formed [[m|en|subterranean]] from it about 1600.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of underground caves.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the sky below the horizon.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella mentions an underground slave prison.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal speaks of the underground realms of the dead.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1600 – English forms ''subterranean'' from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|underground|alt=Underground]], [[m|en|subterranean]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of the [[m|en|underworld]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Below the [[m|en|horizon]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, figurative)'' Innermost.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(neuter)'' An underground place or chamber.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terra]]

+ * [[en|subterranean]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}