tellus Latin · revision 5443

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=Varro|origins=ine-pro *telh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛl.luːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛl.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tellūs''' ''f'' (genitive tellūris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[itc-pro|*teln-]], from a root [[ine-pro|*telh₂-|t=flat, ground]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[sga|talam|t=earth]], [[sa|तल|tr=tala|t=surface]] and [[lt|tìlės|t=floor of a boat]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Its ''e'' alternates with the ''o'' of [[meditullium]] “the interior”, as in [[terra]] beside [[extorris]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Varro, and Köbler from Cicero.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Varro says Jupiter is called father and ''Tellūs'' Earth mother.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was mostly a poetic word for the ground as cultivable soil and the earth as producer of all things, and also the earth as a goddess.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It meant the solid earth, dry land as against sea, a particular land or country, and the earth as against the sky, as in Cicero's Dream of Scipio, where it is the ninth sphere at the centre.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In modern times the German chemist Klaproth named the element [[en|tellurium]] from it in 1798, and there are also [[en|telluric]] and [[en|tellurian]] from the 19th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro calls Tellus mother earth.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero places the earth at the centre in the Dream of Scipio.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1798 – Klaproth coins ''tellurium'' from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|earth]], ground, soil.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''Tellūs'', the Earth as a goddess.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The solid earth; dry [[m|en|land]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A land, country.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The earth (as against the sky).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[telluster]]

+ * [[meditullium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|tellurium]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein says that ''tellūs'' is the earth as a whole, the centre of the universe or a goddess, while [[terra]] is earth as matter and element, [[solum]] the solid ground, and [[humus]] the lowest part of the visible world.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}