animositas

Forms

animōsitās f (genitive animōsitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin animōsus (“spirited, bold”) + -tās.^[1][2][3] The adjective comes from animus (“mind, spirit”),^[4] which de Vaan traces back to Proto-Italic *anamo- (“breath, spirit”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-mo- (“breath”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds the noun no earlier than the beginning of the 3rd century AD,^[6] in the Itala, where Moses does not fear “the king's wrath” (animositatem regis, Hebrews 11:27), and in Cyprian, who writes that animositas springs from anger and leads on to fury.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it covered both spirit and its excess: boldness and courage, as in Ammianus Marcellinus' will to resist or the spirit of a horse in Sidonius,^[3][7] vehemence and passion,^[3][2] and, especially in Christian writers, resentment, wrath and hostility.^[7][2] Augustine also uses it for ambition.^[7] The glossaries explain it as boldness, spirit or rashness.^[6]

Medieval Latin kept the senses of courage, energy and zeal, and that of hatred and rancour;^[8][9] British texts also use it for magnificence and for ill will or a grudge.^[10] English borrowed it in the 15th century, first in the sense “vigour, bravery”.^[11]

Timeline

• early 3rd century AD – The Itala uses it of a king's wrath, and Cyprian of the anger that leads to fury.^[6][4]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of resentment.^[7][4]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it for courage in resisting.^[3][7][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it for ambition.^[7][4]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius speaks of the spirit of a horse.^[3][4]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as animosity, meaning vigour or bravery.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Boldness, courage, spirit.^[3][2][7]
2. Vehemence, passion, ardour.^[3][2]
3. Resentment, wrath, hostility.^[7][2][6]
4. Ambition.^[7]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) High spirits, enthusiasm.^[12]
6. (Medieval Latin) Energy, zeal.^[8]
7. (Medieval Latin) Hatred, rancour, animosity.^[8][10]
8. (Medieval Latin) Magnificence.^[10]

Related words

• animōsus
• animus
• English animosity

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b c 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
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson