culmen Latin · revision 6307
16 Oct 2026, 06:43 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *kelH-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkʊɫ.mɛn]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkul.men]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''culmen''' ''n'' (genitive culminis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is a contracted doublet of [[columen]] “top, summit”, from [[itc-pro|*kolamen]], from [[ine-pro|*kelH-|t=to rise, be tall]], the root of [[celsus]] and [[collis]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant the top of a building, a roof, as in Virgil, the ridge pole, as in Vitruvius, and the highest point of anything, a summit, peak, as Caesar's heights of the Alps.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It meant the highest point of the sky, the zenith, as in Cicero, and figuratively an exalted position, the peak of one's fortunes, as in Seneca, and a leader.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein says ''culmen'' is the uppermost line of a roof, [[fastīgium]] its highest point where the slopes meet.^(Döderlein 1874)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant top, summit, culmination.^(Stelten 1995) In Medieval Latin it meant royal or imperial dignity, a roof, a treetop and the vault of heaven.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS) It survives in Spanish ''cumbre'', Portuguese ''cume'' and Italian ''colmo''.^(Wiktionary) [[en|culminate]] comes from its Late Latin verb ''culmināre'' in the 1640s, first in astronomy.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the zenith.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the heights of the Alps.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1640s – English ''culminate'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A roof; the ridge pole.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A summit, peak.^(OLD 2012)
+ # The zenith.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(figurative)'' A height, the peak (of fortune); a leader.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Royal dignity, sovereignty.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[culminālis]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[columen]]
+ * [[celsus]]
+ * [[fastīgium]]
+ * [[en|culminate]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}