Etymologically
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apologia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [a.pɔˈɫɔ.ɡi.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [a.poˈlɔː.d͡ʒi.a][1]

Forms

apologia f (genitive apologiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apología, “defence, speech in defence”),[1][2][3] made of ἀπό (apó, “away”) and λόγος (lógos, “speech, word”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author in the dictionaries is Jerome, in his polemic against Rufinus: veniam ad apologiam eius, “I shall come to his apology”; in another work he writes apologiam scrībere īnstituī, “I set out to write a defence”.[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It remained a Christian writers' word for a written or spoken defence;[5][4] Gennadius uses the plural.[5][4] Ancient glossaries render it by excūsātiō and dēfēnsiō.[4][7]

Medieval Latin used it for a defence, justification or excuse, for an objection or evasion, for a written defence or reply, and in the liturgy for the priest's confession of unworthiness at the offertory.[8][9] Aldhelm, in a letter of about 680, writes of people defending themselves with such an excuse.[10] In Neo-Latin Francesco Barbaro gave the name to a reply to the people of Milan.[11] English took over the Latin form as apologia in 1784, and Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864) made it familiar.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of Rufinus's written defence.[4][2]
  • end of the 5th century AD – Gennadius uses the plural.[5][2]
  • c. 680 – Aldhelm uses it in a letter.[10]
  • 1784 – English borrows the Latin form apologia.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A defence, justification, apology.[6][5][13]
  2. (Medieval Latin) An excuse; an objection; a written defence or reply.[8][9][10]
  3. (Medieval Latin, liturgy) A confession of unworthiness said at the offertory.[8]

Usage notes

Lewis & Short note that it is also the title of a work of Apuleius of Madaura.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c 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. ^ 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. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  13. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson