aptitudo

Forms

aptitūdō f (genitive aptitūdinis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aptus (“suited, fit”) + -tūdō,^[1][2] a noun of quality;^[2] Georges derives it from the verb aptō (“to fit, adapt”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Boethius (first quarter of the 6th century AD),^[4][5] who in his version of Aristotle's Posterior Analytics contrasts necessity that follows nature and aptitude with necessity that is violent and against it.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare in Late Latin, a term of philosophy for a natural fitness or property.^[5][6] Medieval Latin used it widely: for fitness and ability or talent, for a favourable occasion,^[7][8] for the fit joining of things (the members of a body, the neumes of a chant), for agreement and consent, and for a natural disposition or potential.^[9][8]

English borrowed it in the early 15th century as aptitude, at first meaning “tendency, likelihood”; its accusative aptitudinem also lies behind Italian attitudine and so English attitude, its doublet.^[2][10]

Timeline

• first quarter of the 6th century AD – Boethius uses it in his Posterior Analytics.^[5][3][4]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as aptitude.^[2]
• 1660s – English attitude comes from it through Italian and French.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) Fitness, natural aptitude, property.^[5][3][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) Ability, talent.^[7][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) A favourable opportunity.^[7][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) A fitting together, conformity; agreement, consent.^[9]
5. (Medieval Latin) A natural disposition, tendency, potential.^[9][8]

Related words

• English aptitude
• English attitude

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier