A geometrician
measureth … the distance of places │ Geōmetra mētītur … aut distantiam
locōrum
distantia, -ae
[1/f]: not difficult to work out that it means distance, but it belongs
to a group of English derivatives that are regularly formed via Middle English
and Old French, and ultimately from Latin.
The Latin suffix
-ia is used to form nouns from various roots. In this case, it creates nouns
from participles and nouns / adjectives ending in –(ē/ā)ns:
La: distāns, distantis [genitive];
participle; ‘standing apart’ > distantia, -ae [1/f]
> Old French:
distaunce > Middle French: distance > Middle English: dista(u)nce
> Modern English: distance
Cutting out the
“middle men”, we can see the same pattern of derivation from Latin in:
ignorantia,
-ae [1/f]: > Engl. deriv. ignorance
infantia,
-ae [1/f] > Engl. deriv. infancy
absentia,
-ae [1/f]: > Engl. deriv. absence
differentia,
-ae [1/f] > Engl. deriv. difference
existentia, -ae
[1/f] > Engl. deriv. existence
licentia, -ae
[1/f]: > Engl. deriv. licence
violentia,
-ae [1/f] > Engl. deriv. violence
And a useful
‘geometric’ one …
circumfērens, circumferentis (carrying around) > circumferentia, -ae [1/f] (post-Classical) > Engl. deriv. circumference
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