Etymograph

English

Hilary term

Hilary term comes from Latin Hilarius ‘Latin name of Saint Hilary of Poitiers’, from hilarē ‘cheerful, joyful’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- ‘mercy, comfort’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selh₂-‘mercy, comfort’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἵλαοςhílaos‘gracious, merciful, propitious’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἱλαρόςhilarós‘cheerful, glad, happy, joyful, merry’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhilaris‘cheerful, light-hearted, lively’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhilarē‘cheerful, joyful’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEHilarius‘Latin name of Saint Hilary of Poitiers’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1782Hilary term

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selh₂-‘mercy, comfort’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἵλαοςhílaos‘gracious, merciful, propitious’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἱλαρόςhilarós‘cheerful, glad, happy, joyful, merry’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhilaris‘cheerful, light-hearted, lively’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhilarē‘cheerful, joyful’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEHilarius‘Latin name of Saint Hilary of Poitiers’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1782Hilary term

Earliest quotation: 1782, William Brown, D.D. and Elizabeth His Wife: “In Hilary term, 1777, Howland and his co-truſtees, filed…”

A compound of Hilary + term

Latin Hilarius ‘cheerful, happy’

English Hilary

Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ ‘stump’

…

Proto-Italic *term(e)nos ‘boundary stone’

Latin terminus ‘a bound’

Old French terme

Middle English terme

English term

The story

The name Hilary is from the Latin Hilarius (‘Latin name of Saint Hilary of Poitiers’), hilarius (‘more cheerful, more joyful’), from hilarē (‘cheerful, joyful’), from hilaris (‘cheerful, light-hearted, lively’), from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful, glad, happy, joyful, merry”), from ἵλαος (hílaos, “gracious, merciful, propitious; gentle, kind, mild”).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- ‘mercy, comfort’

console, solace, inconsolable, 5 more

through Latin hilaris ‘cheerful, light-hearted, lively’

hilarious, 1 more

Today it means

noun The second term of the legal year, running from January to March or April, during which the upper courts of England and Wales, and Ireland, sit to hear cases.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- / Hilary term

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