antidotum

Forms

antidotum n (genitive antidotī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀντίδοτον (antídoton, “remedy against poison”),^[2][3][4] the neuter of the adjective ἀντίδοτος (antídotos), which is also behind the less common feminine forms ⟨antidotos⟩ and ⟨antidotus⟩.^[3][4] The Greek word means literally “given against”: it is formed from ἀντί (antí, “against”) and the stem of δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”).^[5][6]

Isidore of Seville explained it as “given from the contrary”, since contraries are cured by contraries.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the 1st century AD in the medical writer Celsus, who says that antidotes are seldom but sometimes necessary,^[4][5] and in the fables of Phaedrus,^[4][9] meaning a remedy against poison.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Quintilian and Suetonius use it of a counterpoison,^[4] and the feminine form antidotus occurs in Gellius.^[10] In Spartianus' life of Hadrian it means a remedy of any kind,^[10] and it was also used figuratively.^[10][11]

In Medieval Latin it meant an antidote or a remedy for poison or disease;^[11] Old English glossaries render it with wyrtdrenc, a herbal drink.^[11] Christian writers kept the word for a counterpoison or remedy.^[12] English took it over in the early 15th century as antidote, partly through Old French.^[6]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus discusses antidotes in his work on medicine.^[4][5]
• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses the word in his Fables.^[4][9][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian has someone promise to give an antidote.^[4][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the feminine form antidotus.^[10][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name as “given from the contrary”.^[8][5]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as antidote.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An antidote, a counterpoison.^[3][4]
2. A remedy in general, also figuratively.^[10][11]

Related words

• English antidote

Usage notes

Besides the neuter antidotum, the feminine antidotus (or antidotos) is found, following the Greek adjective.^[3][4][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
11. ^ a b c d 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
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson