Etymologically
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Pamphilus

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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]

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