Etymologically
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baptista

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [bapˈtɪs.ta][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [bapˈtis.ta][1]

Forms

baptista m (genitive baptistae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βαπτιστής (baptistḗs, “baptizer”),[2][3][4][5][1] from βαπτίζω (baptízō, “to dip, baptize”), from βάπτω (báptō, “to dip”).[1][5] Köbler takes the Greek verb back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷēbʰ- (“to dip, sink”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Itala, the Old Latin Bible, as the surname of John, the forerunner of Christ, in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke;[2][5] one manuscript has ⟨baptizātor⟩ instead.[2]

Semantic evolution

The Vulgate keeps it,[3][2] and the Christian poets use it of John: Juvencus,[2] and Sedulius in his Easter poem.[3] Church writers use it throughout for John the Baptist.[2][4][6]

Medieval writers extended it to anyone who baptized, to the apostles and to priests:[7][8] a later chronicle calls Paulinus the baptizer of King Edwin.[8] Aldhelm and Bede use it of John.[8] In a letter to Conrad Celtis a correspondent explains that ⟨baptista⟩ is the Latin form of his name.[9] It is the source of Italian Battista.[10] English baptist, from about 1200, also began as a title of John.[11]

Timeline

  • after 220 AD – The Itala calls John baptista in the Gospels.[2][5]
  • c. 325 AD – Juvencus uses it in his Gospel poem.[2][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate keeps it.[3][2][5]
  • first half of the 5th century AD – Sedulius has it in his Easter poem.[3][5]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of John.[8][5]
  • c. 1200 – English baptist appears.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A baptizer, one who baptizes.[3][7][8][1]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The Baptist, title of John the Baptist.[2][4][6][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  10. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com