moenia Latin · revision 5560

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmoe̯.ni.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɛː.ni.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''moenia''' ''n pl'' (genitive moenium); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[itc-pro|*moini-|t=protective wall]], perhaps from [[ine-pro|*(H)moy-ni-|t=construction]], from a root *mey- “to fix, build”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[sa|मिनोति|tr=minóti|t=fixes, builds]], and related within Latin to [[mūniō]] “to fortify” and [[mūrus]] “wall”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan explains the kept /oe/, where /ū/ would be expected, as a way of keeping it apart from [[mūnia]] “duties”, and does not rule out a link with [[mūnus]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Naevius, who has a singular ''moene''.^(de Vaan 2008) Ennius speaks of attacking the walls of the citadel.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the defensive walls of a town, and then the area enclosed by them, a fortified town or city, as when Plautus asks a small space “in your great and lovely city”.^(OLD 2012) In poetry it was also a natural barrier, such as the fiery walls of the world in Lucretius.^(OLD 2012) Isidore says the walls are so called because they fortify (''mūniant'') the city.^(Isidore)

+

+ Medieval writers used it of town and borough walls, and figuratively.^(DMLBS) Its relatives [[mūniō]] and ''mūnītiō'' gave [[en|munition]] in the 1530s and, by a French misdivision, [[en|ammunition]] in the 1620s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses the singular ''moene''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of attacking the citadel walls.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1530s – English ''munition'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|walls]] of a town, ramparts.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A walled town, a city.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (poetic) A natural barrier.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mūniō]]

+ * [[mūnus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mūrus]]

+ * [[en|munition]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes [[mūrus]], any wall by its form, [[pariēs]], the wall of a building or a partition, and ''moenia'', the walls of a city as a defence.^(Döderlein 1874) ''Moenia'' is also an old spelling of [[mūnia]] “duties”.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}