deorsum

See also: deorsum-

Latin

Alternative forms

• deorsom, deōsum, deorsus, dorsum (classical or earlier)
• deorsu, diōsum, iosso, iossu, iōsu, iōsum, zōsum (late)
• iūsu, iūsum (late, influenced by the antonym sūsum)

Etymology

From dē- +‎ vorsum (archaic form of versum, versus), with loss of [w] and shortening of the first of two vowels in hiatus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /deˈor.sum/, [d̪eˈɔrs̠ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈor.sum/, [d̪eˈɔrsum]

Adverb

deorsum (not comparable)

1. downwards

   Antonym: sūrsum

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Matthaeus.4.6:

     Et dixit ei, Si Fīlius Deī es, mitte te deorsum. Scriptum est enim: Quia angelis suis mandavit de te, et in manibus tollent te, ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum.

     And he [the devil] said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself downwards. For it is written that He has sent orders to his angels about you, and that they shall bear you in their hands lest you strike a stone with your foot."

2. below, beneath

   Antonyms: sūrsum, dēsuper

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Exodus.20.4:

     Non facies tibi sculptile, neque omnem similitudinem quae est in caelo desuper, et quae in terra deorsum, nec eorum quae sunt in aquis sub terra.

     Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Derived terms

• iōsānus (*deorsānus)

Descendants

Reflexes of the late variant iosso:

• Sardinian: giòsso, giòssu (Campidanese), jòsso, zòsso (Logudorese, Nuorese)

Reflexes of the late variant iōsum:

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: ghios
  • Romanian: jos
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: gioso, gió (Tuscan)
  • Neapolitan: josu (archaic), juso^?
  • Sicilian: jusu^?
• Padanian:
  • Lombard: zoxo (archaic), giò
  • Venetian: xóxo
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Old Catalan: jos
  • Old Occitan: jos
    • Occitan: jos
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Navarro-Aragonese: yoso, goso (11th c.)
  • Old Leonese: yoso

Reflexes of the late variant iūsum:

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: giuso (archaic), giù
  • Neapolitan: juso^?
  • Sicilian: jusu^?
• Padanian:
  • Friulian: jù
  • Ligurian: zù (archaic)
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Old Catalan: jus
  • Old Occitan: jus
  • Old French: jus
    • Norman: jus
    • Picard: jus
    • Walloon: djus
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: juso
  • Old Spanish: yuso

References

• “deorsum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “deorsum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• deorsum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• deorsum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “deorsum” in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL Open Access), Berlin (formerly Leipzig): De Gruyter (formerly Teubner), 1900–present