Lexicography, translation and terminology: relations in Della Geometry di Orontio Fineo tradotte da Cosimo Bartoli (Venetia, 1587)

Abstract

The mathematical books written by the French mathematician Oronce Finé gained great prestige during the sixteenth century, as evidenced by the translations of his work on Geometry, Optics, Geography and Astronomy, Pr otomathesis: Opus var i um. Our interest here is focused on Della Geometria, the second book of Opere di Orontio Fineo del Delfinato, divise in cinque parti, translated byCosimo Bartoli (Venetia, Francesco Franceschi Senese, 1587). We carry out a terminological study to compare both works, the source text and this Italian translation. This analysis will allow us to examine the processes of lexical convergence which are characteristic in this lexicon of Greco-Roman origin, on the one hand, and to study the formal and the semantic neologisms in this specific field, on the other. Finally, we will verify the use of same mechanisms to disseminate this technical vocabulary, both in Latin and Italian languages.