biformis

Forms

bifōrmis (neuter bifōrme); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin bi- (“two-”) + fōrma (“shape”) + -is.^[2][1] De Vaan traces bis (“twice”) to Proto-Italic *dwis and Proto-Indo-European *du̯is (“twice”), cognate with Ancient Greek δίς (dís, “twice”).^[3] The origin of fōrma is unclear: de Vaan suggests that it may go back to a form with /m/ that dissimilated to /f/, and that it and Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”) may both have been borrowed from a third language.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Virgil,^[4] who calls the Minotaur proles biformis, “the two-formed offspring”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It describes beings made of two parts of different kinds, chiefly monsters:^[2] besides the Minotaur, Virgil uses it of the Scyllas, and Ovid of the Centaurs Chiron and Nessus and of Hermaphroditus.^[5] Of Janus it means two-faced.^[2][5] Lewis & Short note that it is poetic or post-Augustan prose;^[5] Horace applies it to the poet who becomes a swan,^[5] and Tacitus speaks of biformes hominum partus, human births of double sex.^[5][6] Late grammarians use it of a rule or a letter with two forms.^[6] In medieval British Latin it still means hybrid, double, as in Aldhelm's riddle on the Minotaur.^[7]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil, of the Minotaur.^[5][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid, of Janus and of Centaurs.^[5][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of human births of double sex.^[5][4]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm, of the Minotaur in a riddle.^[7][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having two forms; made of two parts of different kinds, hybrid (of monsters).^[2][5][1]
2. Two-faced (of Janus).^[2][1]
3. Of double sex.^[6]
4. (Late Latin, grammar) Having two forms.^[6]

Related words

• bis
• fōrma
• triformis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b 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