colossus Latin · revision 4155

15 Oct 2026, 21:12 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
Initial text

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Seneca the Younger|origins=grc κολοσσός}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [kɔˈɫɔs.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koˈlɔs.sus]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''colossus''' ''m'' (genitive colossī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|grc|κολοσσός|tr=kolossós|t=large statue]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Saalfeld 1874) Etymonline calls the Greek word of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Seneca the Younger uses it in his Letters.^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) Köbler dates Seneca 4 BC–65 AD.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a gigantic statue, in Pliny, Suetonius and Statius, and especially the celebrated bronze statue of the sun god at Rhodes, which Pliny and Suetonius describe.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short note that it was seventy ells high.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The Historia Augusta uses an adjective ''colossus'' “colossal” of statues.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ Medieval writers used it of tall columns and statues, of Nero's statue and the statue of the Sun at Rhodes, and by confusion of the amphitheatre, the Colosseum.^(MLW)^(Köbler 2010) English ''colossus'' is recorded in the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca the Younger uses it.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the Colossus of Rhodes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 4th/5th century AD – The Historia Augusta has the adjective.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * end of the 9th century – Erchempert is Köbler's first medieval source.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * late 14th century – English ''colossus'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A gigantic [[m|en|statue]], a [[m|en|colossus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''Colossus'', the statue of the sun god at Rhodes.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An [[m|en|amphitheatre]].^(MLW)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ===Adjective===
+ # ''(Late Latin)'' [[m|en|colossal]].^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|colossus]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}