accusativus

Forms

accūsātīvus (feminine accūsātīva, neuter accūsātīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin accūsō (“to accuse”) + -īvus.^[2][1] As a grammatical term it renders Ancient Greek αἰτιατική (aitiatikḗ);^[1] Wiktionary calls it a mistaken calque, since the Greek word does not mean “relating to accusing” but “relating to an effect”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro is its first author: in On the Latin Language he speaks of the case first as the cāsus accūsandī, then as the accūsātīvus.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

Priscian gives both names, accūsātīvus sīve causātīvus.^[5] Quintilian uses the masculine on its own as a noun for the case, in a passage on the ambiguity that two accusatives can produce.^[5][3] After him it is the regular term in all the grammarians, with or without cāsus.^[3][5] Augustine plays on it, speaking to an opponent of the accusative case in which he has accused himself.^[5]

Prepositions that take the accusative were called praepositiōnēs accūsātīvae;^[5][3] Isidore of Seville explains that such prepositions are named after the cases they serve,^[5][3] and Gregory of Tours mentions the fault of putting accusative prepositions before ablatives and the reverse.^[5] English accusative came from it in the 15th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses cāsus accūsandī and accūsātīvus for the case.^[3][2][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it as a noun.^[5][2][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine plays on the case and the verb “accuse”.^[5][4]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the term “accusative prepositions”.^[5][4]
• mid-15th century – English accusative is taken from it, directly or through Anglo-French.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (grammar) Accusative (of the case); cāsus accūsātīvus, the accusative case.^[2][3][1]
2. (grammar, of prepositions) Taking the accusative.^[3][5]

Noun

1. (grammar) The accusative case.^[5][2][1]

Related words

• accūsātiō
• cāsus
• English accusative

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com