modulus Latin · revision 7421

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Varro|origins=la modus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmɔ.dʊ.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɔː.du.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''modulus''' ''m'' (genitive modulī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a diminutive of [[modus]] “measure” with the suffix [[-ulus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Varro, of a unit of measure.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a small measure, a unit of measurement, in architecture a module, and figuratively, as Horace's ''mētīrī sē suō modulō ac pede'' “to measure oneself by one's own measure and foot”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Lewis and Short note it is not in Cicero or Caesar.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Pliny and Gellius it meant a unit of rhythm, the measure of a syllable, and rhythm in speech, and in Vitruvius a musical interval and a sequence of notes, a tune.^(OLD 2012) In Ulpian's law it was a pipe of fixed bore controlling the flow of water, and in Apuleius ''prō modulō'' meant to the best of one's ability.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant melody, rhythm, measure.^(Stelten 1995) Through Vulgar Latin *modellus it gave Italian ''modello'', the source of [[en|model]] in the 1570s, and [[en|module]] came from French ''module'' or directly from Latin in the 1580s.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a unit of measure.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of musical intervals.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it figuratively.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1570s – English ''model'' is recorded, through Italian.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A measure, standard, ''(architecture)'' a [[m|en|module]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A unit of rhythm; rhythm.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(music)'' An interval; a tune.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A water pipe of fixed bore.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''prō modulō'', to the best of one's ability.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[modulātē]]

+ * [[modulātiō]]

+ * [[modulātor]]

+ * [[modulātus]]

+ * [[modulor]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[modus]]

+ * [[en|model]]

+ * [[en|module]]

+ * [[en|mold]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}