Etymologically
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biformis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [bɪˈfoːr.mɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [biˈfɔr.mis][1]

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]

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