aetas Latin · revision 5157

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 450 BC (Twelve Tables)|origins=ine-pro *h₂eyu-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈae̯.taːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛː.tas]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''aetās''' ''f'' (genitive aetātis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a contraction of [[m|la|aevitās]], [[af|la|aevum|-tās|t1=age, lifetime]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Italic *aiwotāts, from *aiwom and the suffix *-tāts.^(Wiktionary) The full form ''aevitās'' survives in the Twelve Tables, Varro and Cicero's laws, and inscriptions spell it ⟨etas⟩.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Twelve Tables have ''aevitās'' in the rule “if illness or old age is a hindrance”.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates the Twelve Tables to about 450 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the number of years one has lived, one's age, and the age of things such as wine or words.^(OLD 2012) It also named a period of life (infancy, youth, old age), an age group, youth or old age in particular, and the whole of one's lifetime, ''aetātem'' meant “all one's life”.^(OLD 2012) By extension it was human life in general and a historical age or era.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Isidore distinguished the age of a man, divided into infancy, youth and old age, from the ages of the world.^(Isidore) In medieval British Latin it was a person's age, childhood, old age and an age group.^(DMLBS) It survives in [[it|età]], [[es|edad]] and [[pt|idade]], and Old French ''aage'' gave [[en|age]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use ''aevitās'' of old age.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus asks “how old do I seem to you?”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the turn of life.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore distinguishes the ages of man and of the world.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One's [[m|en|age]], years; full age; the age of things.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A period of life (infancy, [[m|en|youth]], old age).^(OLD 2012)

+ # An age group.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Youth; old age.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|lifetime]], ''aetātem'', all one's life, for an age.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Human life.^(OLD 2012)

+ # An age, [[m|en|era]]; a generation.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aetātula]]

+ * [[aeternus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aevum]]

+ * [[en|age]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Isidore notes that ''aetās'' could mean one year in annals, seven years of a man's life, a hundred years, or longer spans.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}