Etymologically
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accessibilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ak.kɛsˈsɪ.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [at.t͡ʃesˈsiː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

accessibilis (neuter accessibile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin accēdō (“to approach”) + -bilis, formed on the participle stem ⟨access-⟩ of the verb;[2][3] Wiktionary connects it with the noun accessus (“approach, entrance”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian is its first author: in Against Praxeas he writes of Christ seen at last through a light that is accessible, to be compared with the inaccessible light of the First Letter to Timothy.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense, “that can be entered”, is in Cassiodorus, who tells how the sanctuary of the main church became open to all once its doors were removed.[2] More often it was figurative: Augustine says that the way Scripture speaks is accessible to everyone, though very few can penetrate it,[2] Cassiodorus uses it of a clemency open to someone's deceits,[2] and a Novel of Justinian of a consular dignity open to all good men.[2]

Medieval Latin used it for “accessible, approachable” and also for “receptive”.[5] Köbler records it in the capitularies.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of the light through which Christ was seen.[2][4]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine calls the language of Scripture accessible to all.[2][4]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of a sanctuary opened to everyone.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Late Latin) That can be entered or reached; Accessible.[2][3][1]
  2. (Late Latin, figurative) Approachable, open (to someone or something).[2][5][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Receptive.[5]

Word family

  • accessibilitas
  • inaccessibilis

Usage notes

Claudianus Mamertus has an adverb accessibiliter, but in the sense “accidentally”, opposed to substantiāliter.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill