11.01.26: Comenius CV; Geometry; vocabulary [6] shapes (3)

Out of these arise an oval, a triangle, a quadrangle, and other figures. │ Ex hīs oriuntur cylindrus*, trigōnus, tetragōnus, & aliæ figūræ.

[i]

trigōnus, -a, -um; triangulus, -a, -um; triquetrus, -a, -um: triangular

trigōnum, -ī [2/n];  triangulum, -ī [2/n]: a triangle

[ii]

quadrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: make (something) square

quadrātum, -ī [2/n]: a square i.e. a noun derived from the adjective: quadrātus, -a, -um: square (shape)

cubus, -ī [2/m]: a cube

[iii] tetragōnus, -a, -um (not attested in CL): having four sides < Anc. Gk. τετρα- [tetra-] < τέτταρες [téttares, “four”] + γωνία [gōnía, “corner, angle”]

[iv]

oblongus, -a, -um: [i] rather long; [ii] oblong

rēctangulus, -a, -um: (Late Latin) rectangular

rēctangulum, -ī [2/n]: (Mediaeval; geometry) rectangle

*[v] Comenius’ use of cylindrus to refer to an ‘oval’ is odd; #13 in the image clearly shows it, but cylindrus meaning ‘oval’ is not attested anywhere:

cylindrus, -ī [2/m] a cylinder; in Ancient Rome it specifically referred to a cylindrical stone used for levelling the ground

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=cylindrus-harpers

ōvātus, -a, -um: egg-shaped; oval (attested in Pliny)

ōvālis, -e: a further adjective referring to an egg (ōvum, -ī [2/n]) in Classical Latin, but was not used to describe shape; in Mediaeval Latin, however, it does have that meaning: egg-shaped i.e. oval. The image gives the adjective rather than a noun.

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Quotations

[i] quid iūdicant sēnsūs? dulce amārum, leve asperum, prope longē, stāre movēre, quadrātum rotundum (Cicero) │ What do the senses judge? Sweetness, sourness, smoothness, roughness, proximity, distance; whether an object is stationary or moving, square or round

[ii] quadrāta amplius spatium complectuntur triangulīs (Quintillian) │ Squares contain more space than triangles

[iii] … hae septem stēllae "triōnēs" appellātae sint, quia ita sunt sitae, ut ternae stēllae proximae quaeque inter sēsē faciant "trigōna", id est triquetrās figūrās (Gellius) │ (Varro added that …) these seven stars were called “triones” rather for the reason that they are so situated that every group of three neighbouring stars form triangles, that is to say, three-sided figures."

[iv] Intuentibus enim nōbīs in illud ita propemodum rēs erat, ut fōrma esse triquetra vidērētur (Gellius) │ For as we were looking at that (constellation), the situation was almost such that it appeared to be a triangular shape.

[v] fōrmam tōtīus Britanniae Līvius veterum, Fabius Rūsticus recentium ēloquentissimī auctōrēs oblongae scutulae vel bipennī adsimulāvēre (Tacitus) │ The form of the whole of Britannia Livy and Fabius Rusticus, the most graphic among ancient and modern historians, have likened to an oblong shield or battle-axe.

[vi] Cybus [= cubus] autem est corpus ex lateribus aequālī lātitūdine plānitiārum perquadrātum (Vitruvius) │ A cube is a body with sides all of equal breadth and their surfaces perfectly square

• latus, lateris [3/n]: side