Etymologically
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catalogus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kaˈta.ɫɔ.ɡʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kaˈtaː.lo.ɡus][1]

Forms

catalogus m (genitive catalogī); second declension[1] Medieval spellings include ⟨cathalogus⟩, ⟨catalagus⟩ and ⟨catholigus⟩;[2][3] the glossaries also have a neuter ⟨catalogum⟩.[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κατάλογος (katálogos, “enrolment, register, list”).[1][2][4] The Greek noun comes from καταλέγειν (katalégein, “to reckon up, enumerate”), from κατά (katá, “down; completely”) and λέγειν (légein, “to count, say”).[2][5] Georges gives index as the native Latin word.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ausonius is its first author: in his summary of the Iliad he says that the second book goes through the army man by man, so that in the series of the catalogue soldiers, ships, leaders and homelands are set out.[4][7][2]

Semantic evolution

The grammarians used it for such an enumeration in poetry: Macrobius says the Greeks call a listing of auxiliary forces a catalogus, and Servius uses it for the list of those who came from Etruria in the tenth book of the Aeneid.[4][7] Christian writers took it up for any enumeration:[4][7] Jerome speaks of a catalogue of the sins of Jerusalem and of a catalogue of virtues, and recalls that Cicero in the Brutus weaves a catalogue of Latin orators;[4] Orosius writes of a catalogue of tyrants.[4][8]

In Medieval Latin it was a list or register of people or things:[9][3][10] Aldhelm places virgins in the catalogue of martyrs, and Bede tells how the names of apostates were to be struck from the catalogue of Christian kings.[3][10] To be written into the catalogue of saints meant to be canonized.[3][11] It also meant a written monastic profession,[9] a collection of letters or authoritative texts, a genealogy, and a necrology.[3] English catalogue comes from it, directly and through Old French.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses it of the catalogue in the Iliad.[4][2]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of lists of sins and virtues.[4][2]
  • 417/418 AD – Orosius writes of a catalogue of tyrants.[4][2]
  • first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius explains it as the Greek word for a list of forces.[4][2]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm places virgins in the catalogue of martyrs.[3][2]
  • early 15th century – English borrows catalogue.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) An enumeration, a list (of virtues, sins, persons).[7][6][4][12]
  2. (Late Latin) A list of names, a catalogue, especially of forces in epic poetry.[7][6][4]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A register;[3][11][10] catalogus sānctōrum: the list of saints.[3][11][10]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A written monk's profession.[9]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A collection of letters or authoritative writings; a necrology.[3]
  • English catalogue

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ a b c d 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
  11. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson