affirmativus

Forms

affirmātīvus (feminine affirmātīva, neuter affirmātīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin affirmō (“to affirm”) + -īvus.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a grammarians' word: Diomedes, in the second half of the 4th century AD, speaks of an affirmative kind of verb.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Medieval writers used it of what confirms or permits, and above all in logic and music theory for what affirms, as opposed to negative.^[5] As a feminine noun it named an affirmative proposition: an English logic text of before 1250 divides statements into affirmativa and negativa.^[6]

Eriugena calls the part of theology that predicates everything of the divine essence affirmativa.^[6] English affirmative came through Old French in the mid-15th century, from its use in logic.^[2]

Timeline

• 2nd half of 4th century AD – Diomedes the grammarian has it.^[3][4]
• before 1250 – William of Sherwood divides statements into affirmative and negative.^[6]
• mid-15th century – English borrows affirmative through Old French.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (grammar) Affirming, affirmative.^[3][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) Confirming; permitting.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin, logic and music) Affirmative, positive, as opposed to negative.^[5][6]

Noun

1. affirmātīva (Medieval Latin, logic) An affirmative proposition.^[6][5]

Related words

• English affirmative

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson