08.01.26: Comenius CV; Geometry; vocabulary [4] shapes (1)

He maketh out the figures of things, with lines, angles, and circles, … │ Dēsignat figūrās rērum līneīs, angulīs, & circulīs

[i] figūra, -ae [1/f]: shape; form; figure

[ii] angulus, -ī [2/m]: [i] angle; [ii] corner (e.g. of the street)

[iii] līnea, -ae [1/f]: line

[iv] circulus, -ī [2/m]: circle; a circular course or orbit

also: circus, -ī [2/m]; less common, but well-known owing to Circus Maximus, the stadium in Rome which, in fact, is not circular but oval!

Circus lacteus: the Milky Way

circulāris, -e: (post-Classical) circular

semicirculus, -ī [2/m]: a semicircle

semicirculus, -a, -um; semicirculātus, -a, -um: semicircular

rotundus, -a, -um: circular; round; spherical

globus, -ī [2/m]: any round object e.g. sphere; globe

globōsus, -a, -um: spherical; round

sphaera, -ae [1/f]: ball; globe; sphere

sphaericus, -a, -um: spherical

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Quotations

[i] relictō exteriōre circulō mūrī (Livy) │ having abandoned the exterior circle of the wall

[ii] (stēllae) … quae globōsae et rotundae … circulōs suōs orbēsque cōnficiunt celeritāte mīrābilī (Cicero) │ (the stars) … which are spherical and round … complete their circles and orbits with remarkable speed.

[iii] habent suam sphaeram stēllae inerrantēs (Cicero) │ The fixed stars have their own sphere

Note: the distinction made between [a] stēllae errantēs: wandering stars, and [b] stēllae inerrantēs: fixed / ‘non-wandering’ stars

[a] The seven classical planets, including the Moon and the Sun, which move independently across the sky. Each was thought to be carried on its own celestial sphere

[b] The stars in the firmament that appear to maintain fixed positions relative to each other. They do not change position relative to one another.

[iv] Descriptions by Celsus of surgical instruments

[1] Megēs* … ferrāmentum fēcit rēctum, in summā parte labrōsum, in īma sēmicirculātum acūtumque │ Meges made a straight blade, with a wide border on its upper part, semicircular and sharp below. (*Meges: name of a Greek surgeon)

• rēctus, -a, -um: straight

[2] Referring to a scoop used for the removal of stones:

Is est ad extrēmus tenuis, in sēmicirculī speciem retūsae lātitūdinis │ This is thin at the end, beaten out into the shape of a semicircle [literally: It is narrow at the ends, in the shape of a semicircle, (and) of a blunted width]

• retundō, -ere, rettudī, retūsus [3]: blunt
• speciēs, -ēī [5/f]: (here) appearance; outline; shape