The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

272 XIII.iii.1–v.6 Isidore of Seville
Therefore an atom iswhatevercannotbedivided,likea
point ingeometry, for means “division” in Greek,
and means “non-division.”
iii. Elements (De elementis) 1.TheGreekscall the primary
material of things (“matter,” also “wood,
woodland”), which is not formed in any way, but is capable
of underlying all bodily forms; from this material the
visible elements (elementum) areformed,whence they
took their name from this derivation. 2 Latin speakers
have named this ‘matter’ (materia, also meaning
“wood”) because every unformed substance, of which
something is made, is always called matter. Whence the
poets have named it silva (lit. “woodland”), not inappropriately,
because materia is connected with woods. 2.The
Greeks name the elements ,because they agree
with each other in a certain accord and communion of
association (cf. ,“agreewith”). Indeed, they are
said to be joined thus among themselves with a certain
natural logic, now returningtotheirorigin,fromfireto
earth, now from earth to fire, since fire ends in air, and air
is condensed into water, and water thickens into earth;
and in turn, earth is loosened into water, water rarefied
into air, and air thinned out into fire. 3.For this reason,
all the elements are present in all, but each one has taken
its name from whichever element is more abundant in it.
The elements are assigned by Divine Providence to the
appropriate living beings, for the Creator himself has
filled heaven (i.e. the fiery realm) with angels, air with
birds, water with fish, and earth with humans and the
rest of the living things.
iv. The sky (De caelo) 1.Thesky (caelum) 3 is so named
because, like an engraved (caelatum) vessel, it has the
lights of the stars pressed into it, just like engraved
figures; for a vessel which glitters with figures that stand
out is called caelatus. Godembellished the heaven and
filled it with bright light – that is, he adorned it with the
sun and the gleaming orb of the moon, and the glorious
constellations of glittering stars. [In a different way, it
is named from engraving (caelare)thesuperior bodies.]
2.Itiscalled in Greek, after the term ,
that is, ‘seeing,’ because the air is transparent and clearer
for seeing. In Sacred Scripture the sky is called the firmament
(firmamentum), because it is secured (firmare)by
the course of the stars and by fixed and immutable laws.
3. Sometimes the word ‘sky’ is used for the air, where
winds and clouds and storms and whirlwinds arise.
Lucretius (cf. On the Nature of Things 4.133):
The sky (caelum), which is called air (aer).
And the Psalm (78:2; 103:12, Vulgate) refers to “fowls of
the sky (caelum),” when it is clear that birds fly in the air;
out of habit we also call this air, ‘sky.’ Thus when we ask
whether it is fair or overcast we sometimes say, “How is
the air?” and sometimes “How is the sky?”
v. Parts of the sky (De partibus caeli) 1. Theether
(aether) isthe place where the stars are, and signifies
that fire which is separated high above from the entire
world. Of course, ether is itself an element, but aethra
(i.e. another word for ether) is the radiance of ether;
it is a Greek word. 2. Thesphere (sphaera) ofthesky
is so named because it has a round shape in appearance.
But anything of such a shape is called a sphaera
by the Greeks from its roundness, such as the balls that
children play with. Now philosophers say that the sky
is completely convex, in the shape of a sphere, equal
on every side, enclosing the earth, poised in the center
of the world’s mass. People say that the sky moves,
and with its motion the stars fixed in it go around from
east to west, with the stars of the Big Dipper proceeding
around the pole in shorter rotations. 3.The axis (axis)is
astraightlinefromtheNorth that extends through the
center ball of the sphere, and it is called ‘axis’ because
around it the sphere turns like a wheel, or because the
Wain (i.e. ‘wagon,’ another name for the Big Dipper)
is there. 4. The poles are the ends of the axis, and they
are called poles (cardo, lit. ‘pivot’) because the sky turns
around them. 5. There are circular polar regions that
runaround the axis. One of them is the northern, which
never sets, and is called ‘Boreus,’ the other is the southern,
which is never visible, and is called ‘Austronotius.’
And theyarecalled‘polar regions’ (polus), because they
are circles around the axis (i.e. “axle”), after the usage
of a wagon, named specifically from ‘polishing’ (polire).
But the Boreus polar region is always visible, and the
Austronotius never, because the right side of the heavens
is higher and the southern side is pressed down.
6.The vaults (convexum)are the edges of the sky, named
from their curvature, for a convex (convexus) thing is
2 Isidore is linking the words and elementum by sound.
3 See footnote 1 above.