An Attempt To Date
the Mediterranean
G.D.O'Bradovich III
July 28, 2015
The following information is courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary and dates after the 1800 have been omitted.
Forms:
15–16 Mediteranean, 15– Mediterranean. Also with lower-case initial.
Etymology:
< classical Latin mediterrāneus inland, far from the coast (see sense A. 3;
< medius middle (see medium n. and adj.) + terraterra n. + -āneus (compare subterrāneus subterrane adj. and n.)) + -an suffix.
Classical Latin mediterrāneus is after ancient Greekμεσόγαιος situated in the middle of land
< μέσος situated in the middle (see meso- comb. form) + γήϊος of the earth
< γῆ (see geo- comb. form) + -ιος , suffix forming adjectives.
Compare Italian mediterraneo (1282), Spanish mediterráneo (c1440), French méditerranéen (1569 in Middle French). Compare earlier Mediterrane adj. and n., Mediterrany adj. and n.
Mediterraneus was not used of the Mediterranean Sea until post-classical Latin (3rd or 4th cent. in phrase mare Mediterraneum ); compare also Old French mer moiterriene (13th cent.), Middle French mer Miterraine (c1459), mer Méditerrane (1512), Middle French, French mer Mediterranée (1534 in Rabelais), Italian Mare Mediterraneo (1282), Spanish Mar Mediterráneo (1490). The sense of the proper name may originally have been ‘the sea in the middle of the earth’ rather than ‘the sea enclosed by land’: see mid-earth sea n. at mid-earth n. 1a, sea of middle earth n. at middle earth n. 2 and also:
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 158,
Þe grete see of myddilerþe [L. Mare magnum siue mediterraneum] cometh oute of þe Weste and oute of occean..And is yclepid see of þe myddil erþe ffor he passeþ by þe myddel of þe erþe anone to þe este.
In sense A. 2b after German mittelländisch (F. Müller Reise der Österreichen Fregatta Novara (1868) x. 187).
A. adj.
1
a. Mediterranean Sea n. (also †Sea Mediterranean) (the proper name of) the almost landlocked sea separating southern Europe from Africa, connected with the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar, with the Black Sea by the Bosporus, and (since 1869) with the Red Sea by the Suez Canal.
?1556 N. Smyth tr. Herodian Hist. sig. Eeiiiv,
And from Seyn, vnto Rheyn, Gaule Narbonique extendeth it selfe, vnto the Sea Mediterranean, beyonde the Alpes, and the Ryuer Varvs, vnto the Pyrrhenyan Mountaignes.
1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course 75 b,
All those which are within the mediterranean sea.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 51
The Pirats..doe rob on the Ægean and Mediterranean seas.
c1645 W. Atkins Relation of Journey (1994) 233
This toune of Argeres..lyeth on the Numidian coaste of the Mediterranean Sea.
1693 tr. G. de Foigny New Discov. Terra Incognita ii. 26
There is no difficulty to go down into the Mediterranean Sea.
1738 T. Shaw Trav. Barbary & Levant 362
Water Spouts are more frequent near the Capes of Latikea, Greego, and Carmel than in any other Part of the Mediterranean Sea.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature II. xlv. 300
The first voyages into the Ægean, Euxine, and Mediterranean Seas, made by the various adventurers.
b. Of a body of water: nearly or entirely surrounded or enclosed by dry land; landlocked.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
c. Belonging to or situated in inland waters. rare.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
2 a. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Mediterranean Sea, the lands or countries in or surrounding it, or their culture.
1595 H. Chettle Piers Plainnes Prentiship sig. C3,
The vertuous and famous virgin Aeliana, feared and loued not only in the Mediterranean Regions, but in the vtmost East admired.
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 20
In M. Hackluits English discoueries, I haue not come in ken of one mizzen mast of a..mediteranean sternebearer sente from her [sc. Yarmouth's]_Zenith or Meridian.
1679 E. Young Serm. White-Hall 29 Dec. 1678 27
One of the Mediterranean Pirates.
1762 T. Smollett Adventures Sir Launcelot Greaves I. i. 3
Capt. Crowe had commanded a merchant-ship in the Mediterranean-trade for many years, and saved some money by dint of frugality and traffick.
1773 Life N. Frowde 75
An Implement Mr. M'Namara had worn ever since he used the Mediterranean Trade.
b. Physical Anthropol. Designating, relating to, or characteristic of a human physical type found esp. in lands or countries in or surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, characteristically dark-complexioned and of short stature relative to the peoples of Northern Europe. Cf. Eurafrican adj. and n.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
c. Designating a climate typical of lands around the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by hot dry summers and mild wet winters.The term is applied to the climates of various other regions of the world, such as parts of California, Chile, South Africa, and southern Australia.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
3. Of land: inland, remote from the coast, midland (contrasted with maritime). Also: intermediate (between two areas).In quot. 1773 designating an inhabitant of such a region.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xvii. ii. 501
The Mediterranean or mid-land parts of any countrey are..preferred before the maritime or sea-coasts.
1656 (title) The Opening of Rivers for Navigation..a Mediterranean Passage by Water for Billanders of thirty tun, between Bristol and London.
a1691 R. Boyle Gen. Hist. Air (1692) 197
The more mediterranean parts of Russia.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters ii. 54
Sea water differs..not essentially, from the waters of our mediterranean salt springs.
1773 Johnson Let. 28 Aug. (1992) II. 62
Craggy rocks, of height not stupendous, but to a mediterranean visitor uncommon.
B. n.
1 a. With the. The Mediterranean Sea; the islands and countries of this area.
1621 P. Heylyn Microcosmus 76
France is bounded..on the South, with the Mediterranean.
1663 A. Cowley To Mr. Hobs in Pindaric Odes iv,
The Caspian, And slender-limb'd Mediterranean.
1718 J. Addison Remarks Italy (ed. 2) 3
There is nothing more undetermined among the Learned than the Voyage of Ulysses; some confining it to the Mediterranean, others [etc.].
1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iii. 1
The Spinous Tortoise..seems common to the Mediterranean.
b. An inland sea or lake; a body of water nearly or entirely surrounded by land. rare.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια Isagoge sig. D5,
Some [fishes] are better in the ocean than in the mediterranean, and the contrary.
†2. An inhabitant of an inland region. Obs. rare.
1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 131
Again the Mediterraneans the Highlanders muttered at the Imposition.
3. An inhabitant of any of the lands or countries in or surrounding the Mediterranean Sea; (Cultural Anthropol.) a person of the Mediterranean physical type (see sense A. 2b).
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
† mediterranean aisle n. [in quots. with ile and isle, forms not uncommon in Dekker's period but here probably used for a play on words] Obs. rare (Dekker's name for) the middle aisle of old St Paul's Cathedral, in the 16th–17th centuries a common thoroughfare notorious for criminals and other disreputable people.
1603 T. Dekker 1603: Wonderfull Yeare sig. D4,
How nimble is Sicknes,..The greatest cutter that takes vp the Mediterranean Ile in Powles for his Gallery to walke in, cannot ward off his blowes.
1609 T. Dekker Guls Horne-bk. (1812) 94
Your mediterranean isle is then the only gallery wherein the pictures of all your true fashionate and complemental gulls are..hung up.
Mediterranean anaemia n. [so called because thalassaemia was first observed in persons of Mediterranean origin] Med. thalassaemia, esp. thalassaemia major.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
Mediterranean blue n. an intense mid-blue.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
Mediterranean diet n. a diet of a type traditional in Mediterranean countries, spec. one rich in olive oil and vegetables, and thought to confer health benefits.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
Mediterranean disease n. Med. = Mediterranean anaemia n.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
Mediterranean fruit fly n. a fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (family Tephritidae), whose larvae cause considerable damage to citrus fruit; also called medfly.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
Mediterranean pine n. either of two pines common in the Mediterranean region, the maritime pine, Pinus pinaster, and the stone pine, Pinus pinea.
1760 G. Washington Diary 21 Mar. (1925) I. 145
Planted 4 nuts of the Mediterranean Pine in the Pen where the Chestnut grows.
Mediterranean spotted fever n. Med. a rickettsial disease occurring chiefly in southern Europe, Africa, and southern Asia, caused by Rickettsia conorii.
NO CITATIONS BEFORE THE YEAR 1800
Mediterranean-style adj. of a style or design associated with or suggestive of Mediterranean culture.
1976 Honolulu Star-Bull. 21 Dec. g-12 (advt.)
100% Solid state chassis. Replaceable plug-in circuit modules. Instamatic color tuning. In beautiful Mediterranean style cabinet in rich pecan grain finish.
1993 San Francisco Examiner Image 10 Jan. 27/1
Once you have a fountain with spouting water, it's almost automatic to think about a Mediterranean-style garden.
The citations in chronological order.
1282 Italian Mare Mediterraneo
1398a Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 158, Þe grete see of myddilerþe...
1440c Spanish mediterráneo
1459c Middle French mer Miterraine
1490 Spanish Mar Mediterráneo (1490)
1512 Middle French mer Méditerrane
1534 Middle French, French mer Mediterranée
1556? N. Smyth tr. Herodian Hist. sig. Eeiiiv, ... vnto the Sea Mediterranean, ...
1569 Middle French méditerranéen
1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course 75 b, ... the mediterranean sea.
1595 H. Chettle Piers Plainnes Prentiship sig. C3, ... the Mediterranean Regions,...
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 20 In M. Hackluits English discoueries, .....mediteranean sternebearer ...
Four citations before the year 1600.
Not surprisingly, the Italians (1282), the Spanish (1440) and the French(1459) knew of the Mediterranean Sea before the English (1556).
1601 The Mediterranean or mid-land parts of ...
1603 ... takes vp the Mediterranean Ile in Powles....
1609 (1812)Your mediterranean isle is...
1615 The Pirats..doe rob on the Ægean and Mediterranean seas.
1621 France is bounded..on the South, with the Mediterranean.
1645c (1994) .. the Numidian coaste of the Mediterranean Sea.
1655 Again the Mediterraneans the Highlanders ...
1656 ..a Mediterranean Passage by Water for...
1661 ... in the mediterranean, and the contrary.
1663 The Caspian, And slender-limb'd Mediterranean.
1679 One of the Mediterranean Pirates.
1691a (1692) The more mediterranean parts of Russia.
1693 ... into the Mediterranean Sea.
Thirteen citations from the 17th century.
1718 ... some confining it to the Mediterranean, others [etc.].
1738 Water Spouts are more ... of the Mediterranean Sea.
1756 Sea water differs... of our mediterranean salt springs.
1760 (1925) Planted 4 nuts of the Mediterranean Pine ...
1762 ... in the Mediterranean-trade ...
1769 The Spinous Tortoise..seems common to the Mediterranean.
1773 (1992) ... but to a mediterranean visitor uncommon.
1773 ... he used the Mediterranean Trade.
1794 ... and Mediterranean Seas, made by the various adventurers.
Nine citations from the 18th century.
Conclusion
Since the Italians, the French and Spanish the were unaware of the Mediterranean Sea until the 14th century, we conclude the earth can be not several thousand years old as certain people believe, but based on the most recent philological studies, only a few hundred years old.