aequalis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ae̯ˈkʷaː.lɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eˈkʷaː.lis]^[1]

Forms

aequālis (neuter aequāle, comparative aequālior, superlative aequālissimus, adverb aequāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aequus (“level, equal”) + -ālis.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius, in a tragedy, has a speaker fear the girls of the same age.^[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its early sense was of the same age, coeval, and as a noun a companion of one's own age or a contemporary, as Cicero uses it in the Brutus.^[2][6] It also meant equal in size, amount or duration, as Cato's equal maniples, and symmetrical.^[2] From there it meant equal in status or comparable in quality, level or even of a surface, and uniform or regular in texture, style or character: Horace says nothing was consistent in a certain man.^[2] Applied to law it meant applying to all alike, as Cicero's equal right of the law.^[2] The Vulgate uses it of Christ making himself equal to God.^[7]

In medieval Latin it also meant level, smooth and straight, and as a noun a peer.^[8][9] English equal is recorded in the late 14th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of girls of the same age.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of equal maniples.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of contemporaries.^[2][5]
• late 14th century – English equal is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Equal in size, amount or duration; symmetrical.^[2][1]
2. Of the same age; contemporary.^[2][1]
3. Equal in status; comparable, similar.^[2]
4. Level, even, smooth.^[2][10]
5. Uniform, regular, steady.^[2][1]
6. Applying to all alike.^[2]

Noun

1. A person of the same age, a companion; a contemporary.^[2]
2. An equal, (Medieval Latin) a peer.^[2][9]

Word family

• aequālitās
• coaequālis
• inaequālis
• aequāliter

Related words

• aequābilis
• aequābilitās
• aequātiō
• aequātus
• aequē
• aequitās
• aequiter
• aequō
• aequum
• aequus
• English equal

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 m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn