astrum Latin · revision 4053

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Cicero|origins=grc ἄστρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈas.trũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈas.trum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''astrum''' ''n'' (genitive astrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ἄστρον|tr=ástron|t=star]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Saalfeld 1874) Lewis & Short think it perhaps borrowed and compare the native [[stella]], [[en|star]] and [[got|𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉|tr=stairnō]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) The TLL calls it a learned word.^(TLL) Varro, as reported by Martianus Capella, derived [[m|la|astra]] from the name of Astraeus.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cicero uses it of the fixed stars and the planets in the Tusculan Disputations.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a heavenly body or star, usually in the plural, then a planet, including the sun and moon, and a constellation, especially a sign of the zodiac.^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short describe it as poetic or belonging to elevated prose.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein distinguishes ''stella'', any one of the countless single stars, from ''astrum'', one of the great bright bodies such as the sun, moon and named stars, while ''sidus'' is a constellation, which is used more in astronomical and astrological contexts.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In the plural it meant the sky and the heavens, of towers rising to the stars in Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From this came figurative phrases such as ''in astra tollere'', to praise to the skies, and Virgil's ''sic itur ad astra'', “thus one goes to the stars”, of immortal glory.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Statius uses it of a deified person.^(OLD 2012) In medieval Latin it also meant heaven as the seat of God and the saints, and, in Niermeyer, a hearth or home.^(MLW)^(Niermeyer 1976) Through Italian ''disastro'' “ill-starred” it lies behind English ''disaster'', recorded in the 1590s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of stars and planets.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil writes ''sic itur ad astra''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Manilius uses it of the signs of the zodiac.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of a deified person.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1590s – English ''disaster'' is recorded, from its Italian derivative.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A heavenly body, a [[m|en|star]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|planet]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|constellation]], a sign of the [[m|en|zodiac]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' The sky, the heavens.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(figurative)'' ''in astra tollere'', to extol to the skies.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A deified person.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A hearth, home.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[astrālis]]

+ * [[astricus]]

+ * [[astrifer]]

+ * [[astrificō]]

+ * [[astrificus]]

+ * [[astriger]]

+ * [[astriloquus]]

+ * [[astrilucus]]

+ * [[astrisonus]]

+ * [[astrōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stella]]

+ * [[sidus]]

+ * [[en|disaster]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}