bonitas

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈbɔ.nɪ.taːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbɔː.ni.tas]^[1]

Forms

bonitās f (genitive bonitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin bonus (“good”) + -tās.^[2][1] An Old Latin form duonitās is recorded, matching the old form duonus of bonus.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus, about 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant the good quality of a thing: of land and estates in Cicero and Caesar, of soil, water, wine, trees and gems, and of the voice and of words.^[4][5] Lawyers used it of the quality in which a loan must be repaid, and Pliny of a second grade of a spice.^[4] Of abstract things it was the goodness of a nature or of a cause.^[4]

Most often it was goodness of character, integrity, kindness and benevolence, as in Cicero's line that nothing is so popular as kindness.^[4][6][2] In Christian Latin it was the goodness of God and of Christ, and in medieval Latin also generosity, and, in Niermeyer, a tallage or aid paid to a lord.^[7][8][9] It survives in Italian bontà, French bonté and Spanish bondad.^[1] English bounty came from Old French in the late 13th century, first as a gift freely given.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of estates and of kindness.^[4][3]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the quality of land.^[4][3]
• late 13th century – English bounty is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Good quality, goodness, excellence.^[2][1]
2. Moral excellence, integrity, virtue.^[2][1]
3. kindness, benevolence.^[4][1]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The goodness of God.^[7][8]
5. (Medieval Latin) Generosity; an aid or tallage.^[7][9]

Word family

• imbonitas

Related words

• bonifaciēs
• bonifātus
• bonimōris
• bonum
• bonus
• bonuscula
• English bounty

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com