dies Latin · revision 753

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈdi.eːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdiː.es]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''diēs''' ''m'' or f (genitive diēī); fifth declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It goes back to [[itc-pro|*diē-]], built on the accusative [[m|itc-pro|*dijēm]] (Latin [[m|la|diem]]), from [[ine-pro|*dyḗws|t=sky, god of the sky]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) A new stem *dijē- was made from that accusative and became one of the sources of the fifth declension.^(de Vaan 2008) The meaning “day” comes from the time when the sky is bright, and the older sense survives in the god's name [[Diespiter]], beside [[Iuppiter]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)

+

+ Within Italic, compare [[osc|zicolom|t=day]], from *djē-kelo- “little day”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) Further cognates are [[grc|Ζεύς|tr=Zeús]] and [[sa|द्यौः|tr=dyáuḥ|t=sky]];^(OLD 2012) [[en|day]] is not related.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found in the Twelve Tables and in Livius Andronicus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In Plautus it means the [[m|en|daytime]], as in “I spend the day in the forum from morning till night”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the daylight period it extended to the full day of twenty-four hours, reckoned from midnight to midnight, to daylight itself and the open sky, and to the weather.^(OLD 2012) When it meant a set day, a date, an appointed term or the date of a letter, it was often feminine, while in the plural it was always masculine.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) By extension it meant the day of a person's death, a lifetime, and the passing of time, as in Terence's line that “time takes away grief”.^(OLD 2012) Personified, Dies was a deity.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Horace's ''carpe diem'' “seize the day” uses the sense of the present day.^(OLD 2012) Medieval writers used it also for a feast day or anniversary, a day's work and a measure of land.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – It appears in the Twelve Tables.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for daytime and for an appointed day.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for the passing of time.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for the date of a letter.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace writes ''carpe diem''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It means a feast day, a day's work and a measure of land.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The time from sunrise to sunset, [[m|en|daytime]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|daylight|alt=Daylight]]; the open sky; the [[m|en|weather]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A day of twenty-four hours.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # A particular day, date; the date of a letter.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A day appointed for business or payment, a term.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The day of death; one's lifetime.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The passing of time.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A feast day, anniversary; a day's work; a measure of land.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bīduānus]]

+ * [[bīduum]]

+ * [[diārium]]

+ * [[diātim]]

+ * [[diēcula]]

+ * [[diurnus]]

+ * [[quadrīduum]]

+ * [[trīduum]]

+ * [[Diālis]]

+ * [[hodiē]]

+ * [[merīdiēs]]

+ * [[cottīdiē]]

+ * [[prīdiē]]

+ * [[postrīdiē]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[diū]]

+ * [[nū̆diū̆s]]

+ * [[biduus]]

+ * [[Iūpiter]]

+ * [[en|dismal]]

+ * [[en|diary]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the singular it is masculine or feminine, the feminine being usual for an appointed day or a date; in the plural it is masculine.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Compounds such as ''[[hodie]]'' “today”, ''[[pridie]]'' “the day before” and ''[[postridie]]'' “the day after” contain it.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}