Pamphilus

Forms

Pamphilus m (genitive Pamphilī); second declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Πάμφιλος (Pámphilos), a Greek personal name,^[2][3][1] which Etymonline explains as “loved by all”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first record is Terence (190–159 BC),^[5] in whose comedies it is the name of a character,^[3] a frivolous young man in love.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The OLD calls it a common Greek personal name.^[1] It was borne by a painter of Amphipolis, the teacher of Apelles, whom Pliny the Elder mentions,^[1][2] by a disciple of Plato whom Epicurus heard, and by a rhetorician, both named by Cicero.^[2][3]

In the Middle Ages a short 12th-century Latin love poem, Pamphilus, seu de Amore, was widely copied; its title probably gave the Anglo-Latin panfletus and English pamphlet.^[4]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence gives the name to a young lover in his comedies.^[5][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero names a disciple of Plato and a rhetorician called Pamphilus.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of the painter Pamphilus of Amphipolis.^[2][5]
• 12th century – The Latin love poem Pamphilus, seu de Amore is written.^[4]
• late 14th century – English pamflet appears, probably from the poem's title.^[4]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. A Greek personal name.^[1][2]
2. A painter of Amphipolis, the teacher of Apelles.^[1][2]
3. A disciple of Plato, whom Epicurus heard.^[2][3]
4. A Greek rhetorician.^[2][3]
5. A character in Terence's comedies.^[3][5]

Related words

• English pamphlet

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de