blasphemus

Forms

blasphēmus (feminine blasphēma, neuter blasphēmum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βλάσφημος (blásphēmos, “evil-speaking”).^[1][2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian is the first author Lewis and Short cite for it, as a noun meaning one who speaks impiously of God and divine things.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A word of Christian Latin,^[2] it means reviling or defaming, as in Prudentius,^[2] and as a noun a blasphemer.^[2][5] The Vulgate uses it in Leviticus and in the First Letter to Timothy,^[2][6] and Jerome in his letters.^[2]

Medieval Latin used it for evil-speaking and blasphemous, and in a passive sense for a person of bad reputation, a notorious criminal.^[7][3] English blasphemous comes from it, directly or through Old French.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it as a noun, “blasphemer”.^[2][8]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it of a reviling attendant.^[2][8]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for a blasphemer.^[2][6][8]
• early 15th century – English blasphemous is formed from it, directly or through Old French.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Reviling, defaming.^[2][7]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Blasphemous, speaking impiously of God.^[1][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of bad reputation, notorious.^[7][3]

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A blasphemer.^[2][5][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) A notorious criminal.^[7]

Related words

• blasphēmia
• blasphēmō
• English blasphemous

Usage notes

The MLW notes that medieval verse mostly scans the second syllable long, -phē-, and that Lupus of Ferrières reports a Greek's claim that the Greeks shorten it.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de