saltus Latin · revision 6397

16 Oct 2026, 08:13 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)”
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Lucretius|origins=la saliō}}
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''saltus''' ''m'' (genitive saltūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[saliō]] “to leap” with the action suffix -tus.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Gaffiot cites Lucretius, and Cicero has ''saltū ūtī'' “to leap”.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a jump, leap, bound, as in Cicero, Seneca and Virgil, with ''saltum dare'' “to make a leap”, as in Ovid.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Sallust says Pompey competed in leaping with the agile and in running with the swift.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Ovid it also meant a stage, step.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In Medieval Latin it meant a stride as a measure of length, an assault, and the skipping of an intermediate order in ordination.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese ''salto'' and French ''saut''.^(Wiktionary) [[en|sault]] “waterfall, rapid” came about 1600 through colonial French.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''saltū ūtī''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of leaping.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 1600 – English ''sault'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|leap]], jump, bound.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(figurative)'' A stage, step.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A stride; an assault.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[salticus]]
+ * [[saltuārius]]
+ * [[saltuātim]]
+ * [[saltuensis]]
+ * [[saltuōsus]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[saliō]]
+ * [[saltō]]
+ * [[resiliō]]
+ * [[en|sault]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ A different ''saltus'', of uncertain origin, meant a forest pass or defile, a wooded upland pasture, an estate, and a land measure.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Varro derived it from [[salvus]], and Isidore of Seville from trees leaping upward.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Isidore)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}