Etymologically
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adaeque

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Forms

adaequē (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + aequē (“equally”),[2][3][4] built on the adverb of aequus (“level, equal”), for which de Vaan finds no convincing etymology.[5] Wiktionary suggests instead that it may be a back-formation from adaequō (“to make equal”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first,[5][6] always with a negative such as nēmō, numquam or neque, which gives the clause a comparative sense:[7] numquam ecastor ūllō diē rīsī adaequē “by Castor, I never laughed so much on any day”.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly a word of early and late Latin;[7] Lewis and Short note that Cicero never uses it.[7] With Plautus it can take an ablative of comparison and even a comparative adjective,[7][2] and it can be followed by atque or ut “as”.[2][8] A passage of Livy has it in some editions, but Madvig read adaequārī there.[7]

The TLL notes that it is not found in affirmative clauses before Apuleius and the grammarian Juba.[3] Apuleius uses it often, of things equal to others and in the sense “also, likewise”;[2][8] Fronto, Ambrosiaster, Hilary of Poitiers and the Theodosian Code also have it.[2][3][7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in negative comparisons.[2][7][6]
  • 100–170 AD – Fronto uses it of Trajan's popularity.[2][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it in affirmative clauses and in the sense “also”.[2][3][6]
  • 3rd third of the 4th century AD – Ambrosiaster uses it of appointing a bishop and a deacon alike.[3][6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Equally, to the same extent, as, so; with Plautus mostly after a negative.[2][7]
  2. Also, likewise.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier