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Both "meridiem" and "mediam diem" seem to have carried both the meaning "midday" and "(the) south" in Latin, if their Romance descendants are any indication.

From "meridiem", we get apparently Italian "meriggio" and Portuguese "meridio" (and English "meridian").

From "mediam diem", we get apparently Italian "mezzodi" and Portuguese "meio-dia".

Were there any differences in usage between "meridiem" and "mediam diem"? Was one more formal and one less? How did they come to be in competition?

Colin
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I wouldn't say that any of these is 'in competition'. There are differences, as you suspect, but it's not too difficult to understand them.

meridies is used in the same way as English 'noon', or French 'midi', i.e. the single point in time.

Less precisely, an interval of time at the middle of the day is meridianum tempus.

ad mediam diem means 'towards the middle of the day' — by which the approach of either of the two previous alternatives is indicated.

Tom Cotton
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  • so would your suggestion be that in classical Latin, mediam diem appeared as part of phrases like ad mediam diem, and only in later Latin became lexicalized and conflated in meaning to meridiem? – Colin Jan 23 '19 at 15:46
  • @Colin I can't really speak about later Latin, but meridies is certainly classical, and supposedly is conflated from merus (pure) rather than medius/-a and dies. – Tom Cotton Jan 23 '19 at 16:54
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    I think meridies is a dissimilation of medidies (at least that's what wiktionary says). – Colin Jan 23 '19 at 18:38
  • It's just one of those instances where it would be nice to know the derivation, but in which we can't ever be certain. – Tom Cotton Jan 24 '19 at 06:46
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    tempus is neuter. – fdb Jan 24 '19 at 12:47
  • @TomCotton wiktionary seems to imply "medidies" is an attested form. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/medidies . The etymology from pure + day has the hallmark of a folk etymology. – Colin Jan 24 '19 at 16:10
  • @TomCotton. Wkipedia is a treasure house of nonsense. Here is gives a cross reference to L/S, which in turn refers to "meridies", which in turn says that this is "for medidies from medius-dies", in other words an etymology. The reference to Gauthiot is even more elusive. – fdb Jan 24 '19 at 17:04
  • @fdb It's neuter now — thanks! I'm quite satisfied with the etymology in L/S, but I'm quite relaxed about it and don't find it necessary to know for sure. – Tom Cotton Jan 24 '19 at 17:09
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    @Colin Yes, I agree that a derivation from merus is probably nonsense (I did say supposedly!). – Tom Cotton Jan 24 '19 at 17:12