apostata

Forms

apostata m (genitive apostatae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀποστάτης (apostátēs, “deserter, runaway slave”),^[2][3][4] formed from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) and ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to set, place”).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian (c. 160–220 AD) is the first to use it,^[3] for an apostate, one who has abandoned the faith.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It remained a word of Ecclesiastical Latin,^[2] found in Sedulius and the Theodosian Code.^[2] In the Vulgate it also means a wicked or worthless person in general, as in Job 34:18 qui dicit regi apostata and Proverbs 6:12 homo apostata, vir inutilis.^[2]

Medieval Latin used it of deserters, transgressors and rebels, of angels and men who fell away from God and of Christians who abandoned the faith,^[4] and specifically of a monk or cleric who renounced his order.^[7] English borrowed it in the mid-14th century as apostate, from Old French and directly from Late Latin.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of an apostate.^[2][3]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – The Vulgate applies it to a wicked man.^[2][3]
• first half of the 5th century AD – Sedulius uses it in his poetry.^[2][3]
• mid-14th century – English borrows it as apostate.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An apostate, one who abandons the faith.^[2][6][7]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A wicked or worthless person.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A deserter, rebel.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin) A renegade monk or cleric.^[7]

Word family

• apostaticus
• apostatō

Related words

• apostātrīx
• English apostate

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill