spectrum Latin · revision 7099

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cicero|origins=la speciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈspɛk.trũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈspɛk.trum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spectrum''' ''n'' (genitive spectrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[speciō]] “to look at” with the suffix [[-trum]], a doublet of [[speculum]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Its only classical attestation is in letters between Cicero and Cassius, which say that the Epicurean Catius used it to render [[grc|εἴδωλον|tr=eídōlon|t=image]], so it may have been his coinage.^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cicero writes to Cassius that what Democritus calls ''eídōla'', the Insubrian Epicurean Catius calls ''spectra'', and Cassius answers with ''spectra Catiāna''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Epicurean philosophy it meant an image, an emanation from bodies that causes sight and thought, much less frequent than ''simulācrum'' and ''speciēs''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Gaffiot glosses it as the ''simulācra'' given off by objects.^(Gaffiot 2016) Döderlein explains that ''spectrum'' is the apparition of a departed spirit, a supernatural appearance, ''mōstellum'' a horrible one.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it meant an appearance, and Honorius uses it of apparitions shown by the damned.^(DMLBS) Wiktionary notes that the word is very sparsely attested after Cicero until Renaissance humanists revived it about 1500 for an apparition.^(Wiktionary) French ''spectre'' gave [[en|specter]] about 1600, and [[en|spectrum]] in the 1610s meant a phantom, its scientific sense coming later.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero and Cassius discuss Catius' ''spectra''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1500 – Humanists revive it for an apparition.^(Wiktionary)

+ * c. 1600 – English ''specter'' is recorded, through French.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – English ''spectrum'' is recorded, as a phantom.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Epicurean philosophy)'' An image, emanation from bodies.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # An apparition, [[m|en|specter]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[speciō]]

+ * [[spectiō]]

+ * [[spectō]]

+ * [[speculum]]

+ * [[simulācrum]]

+ * [[en|specter]]

+ * [[en|spectrum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}