Vesta Latin · revision 5958

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Ennius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈwɛs.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈvɛs.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Vesta''' ''f'' (genitive Vestae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its closest match is [[grc|ἑστία|tr=hestía|t=hearth]], Ionic [[m|grc|ἱστίη|tr=histíē]], whose initial *w- is shown by the name [[m|grc|ϝιστιαυ|tr=wistiau]] at Mantinea and Hesychius' [[m|grc|γιστία|tr=gistía]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Gaffiot 2016) De Vaan points out that these cannot come from [[ine-pro|*h₂wes-|t=to spend the night, dwell]], since *h₂- would have given Greek /a/, and suggests a loanword.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler and Pokorny still give that root.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Ennius, and the archaic ''Pocula Deorum'' have the dative ''Vestai''.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Vesta was the Roman goddess of the domestic hearth.^(OLD 2012) Her name also meant her temple or shrine, as Ovid's time when Vesta burned and Seneca's Metellus who put out the fire of Vesta, and her sacred fire on any hearth, as Virgil's burning Vesta drenched with wine.^(OLD 2012) Some identified her with Ops, Cybele or the Earth.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Medieval Latin her name was still used of the hearth and of fire, and John of Salisbury speaks of the hearth of Vesta consecrated to virgins.^(DMLBS)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius names Vesta.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the sacred fire.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid tells how the temple of Vesta burned.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Proper noun===

+ # [[m|en|Vesta]], goddess of the [[m|en|hearth]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Her temple or shrine.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The sacred fire; the hearth, fire.^(OLD 2012)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Vestālis]]

+ * [[en|vestal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}