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.
____________________
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
