Etymologically
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aequalis

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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
  • 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