ara Latin · revision 5325

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=leges regiae|origins=ine-pro *h₂eh₁s-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈaː.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.ra]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''āra''' ''f'' (genitive ārae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*āsā-|t=altar]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₂eh₁s-h₂-|t=hearth]], with ⟨r⟩ from intervocalic /s/.^(de Vaan 2008) Old Latin had [[m|la|āsa]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan explains that the meaning shifted from hearth to altar in Proto-Italic.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[osc|aasaí|t=at the altar]], [[xum|asa|t=altar]], [[hit|hāšša-|t=hearth]] and [[sa|आस|tr=ā́sa|t=ashes]], and with [[en|ash]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Lewis and Short derived it from a root “to sit”, which de Vaan does not follow.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from the laws of the kings and Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008) A law ascribed to Numa forbids a concubine to touch the altar of Juno, using the form ''asam''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was an altar, usually built for a particular god, and also an altar on a tomb.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) The phrase ''ārae et focī'' “altars and hearths” stood for home and religion.^(Gaffiot 2016) The plural appears in place names, such as ''Ara Ubiorum'' on the Rhine, and ''Āra'' was the constellation Altar.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Figuratively it was a refuge or protection, as in Cicero's “altar of the laws”, and in Cato a raised base for machinery.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In medieval British Latin it was used of pagan, Jewish and Christian altars.^(DMLBS) It was borrowed into [[it|ara]] and [[es|ara]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * leges regiae – a law of Numa uses the form ''asa''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a base for an oil press.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|altar]], ''ārae et focī'', altars and hearths, home.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # (in place names) ''Arae''.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The constellation Ara.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|refuge]], protection.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A raised base (for machinery).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[āreō]]

+ * [[assus]]

+ * [[en|ash]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}