Etymologically
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absconditus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [apˈskɔn.dɪ.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [abˈskɔn.di.tus][1]

Forms

absconditus (feminine abscondita, neuter absconditum, adverb absconditē); first/second-declension adjective[1] The TLL treats it together with the later participle absconsus.[2] Medieval sources also spell it abscunditus, absonditus and ascunditus.[3]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect passive participle from Latin abscondō (“to hide, conceal”).[4][1] That verb is made of abs- (“away”) and condō (“to put away, store”),[5] one of the compounds in ⟨-dō⟩ that de Vaan lists as possibly continuing Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Rhetorica ad Herennium and in Cicero,[4][3] meaning “hidden”: erant fortasse gladiī, sed absconditī, “there were swords perhaps, but hidden” (Cicero, Philippics 2.108).[4]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also uses it of what is covert or disguised, such as a joke whose point lies concealed or a plot kept hidden,[4][7] and of what is abstruse, like the recondite law of the pontiffs.[4][7] Pliny the Elder uses it of bees hidden in their hive, and Gellius of music that cannot be heard.[4]

Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for what is secret, unknown or obscure.[8] Jerome, discussing the Hebrew word at Isaiah 7:14, says that it means both “young woman” and abscondita, “hidden”.[2] In Firmicus Maternus it describes obscure people of low standing.[2] Medieval glosses render it with Old High German words for “hidden”.[3]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of springs hidden deep.[4][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for hidden, covert and abstruse things.[4][3]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of music that is not heard.[4][3]
  • AD 343/350 – Firmicus Maternus applies it to people of humble standing.[2][3]
  • c. 383–419/420 – Jerome uses it to explain a Hebrew word in Isaiah.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Hidden, concealed.[4][9]
  2. Covert, disguised.[4][7]
  3. Abstruse, recondite.[4][7]
  4. (Late Latin) Obscure, of humble standing.[2]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Secret, mysterious, unknown.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.