Etymologically
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adventicius

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ad.wɛnˈtiː.ki.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ad.venˈtiː.t͡ʃi.us][1]

Forms

adventīcius (feminine adventīcia, neuter adventīcium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin adveniō (“to arrive”) + -īcius, built on the stem of adventus (“arrival”).[2][1][3] adveniō is a compound of ad- and veniō (“to come”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *gwn-je/o- (“to come”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʷm-ie/o- (“to come”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Varro,[4][5] who uses it of moisture that comes by chance.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means coming from outside: Cicero says a family's honour should be defended by its own members, with no outside help needed.[2] The TLL calls it above all a word of the philosophers and the jurists;[3] in Cicero's philosophy it is what depends on external circumstances, as external and adventitious aids, opposed to what is innate.[2][6] It also means coming from abroad, foreign: Cicero speaks of foreign troops,[2] and Varro of migratory birds.[6][2] Of property it is what comes otherwise than by inheritance from one's parents.[2] A cēna adventīcia is a dinner to welcome someone on arrival, as in Suetonius.[2] In Medieval Latin it is also a noun, an alien or immigrant and a stranger in a town.[7] The English adventitious comes from a medieval spelling adventitius.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of chance moisture and migratory birds.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of outside help and external goods.[2][6]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of a dinner of welcome.[2]
  • c. 1600 – adventitious appears in English.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Coming from outside, external;[2][6][1] (philosophy) extrinsic, not innate.[2][6][1]
  2. Coming from abroad, foreign, imported;[2][6][1] (of birds) migratory.[2][6][1]
  3. (of property) Not inherited from one's parents.[2]
  4. Occurring by chance, casual.[2]
  5. cēna adventīcia, a dinner given on someone's arrival.[2]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) An alien, immigrant; a stranger (in a town).[7]

Usage notes

Lewis & Short note the spelling -tīcius, not -tĭus, and that Cicero uses it often, other authors rarely.[6]

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 g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com