Etymology and origin of the Latin word aequivocus
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Compound
- First attested
- 354–430 Augustine More words from the 4th century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin aequus,vocō
From the same root
Forms
aequivocus (feminine aequivoca, neuter aequivocum); first/second-declension adjective[1]
Etymology
It is formed from Latin aequus (“equal”) + vocō (“to call”),[2][3][4] or, in Wiktionary's analysis, from aequus with the connecting vowel ⟨-i-⟩ and ⟨-vocus⟩ “having meaning”.[1] The TLL explains it as “called alike”.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Augustine uses it in his work on dialectic for things that share a name but must be defined differently, and elsewhere equates aequivoca with homonyms.[5]
Semantic evolution
A term of logic and grammar, it describes words that sound alike but differ in meaning, the opposite of univoca.[5][2] Martianus Capella and Isidore of Seville have it,[2][5] and Boethius uses it constantly in his logical works;[5] Quintilian had used the Greek word homonyma for the same thing.[5]
In Medieval Latin it kept the sense “alike only in name, ambiguous”, and also meant having the same personal name;[6] as a noun it was a namesake.[7][3] English took equivocal from it around 1600.[4]
Timeline
- 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of words alike in name but different in definition.[5][3]
- c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville discusses verba aequivoca.[2][3]
- c. 1600 – English forms equivocal from it.[4]
Meanings
Adjective
- (grammar, logic) Having the same name but a different meaning; equivocal, ambiguous.[2][5][6]
- (Medieval Latin) Having the same personal name.[6]
Noun
Related words
- English equivocal
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry
“Aequivocus.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/aequivocus. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.
Last edited on . ·