catalysis

Forms

catalysis f (accusative catalysin); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κατάλυσις (katálusis, “dissolution, ending”).^[1][2][3] Köbler derives the Greek noun from καταλύειν (katalúein, “to destroy, bring to an end”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is known only from the commentaries on Virgil that go under the name of Servius.^[1][2] On the words of the Aeneid caestūs artemque repōnit, he lays down the gloves and his art, Servius says that he gave up his art, “that is, made a κατάλυσις”, in Greek letters.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

The Latin form appears in the longer Servian note on the Eclogues, explaining pendēbis fistula, “you will hang, pipe”, as “I would rather make a catalysis than be the worse”.^[1][4] Georges and Gaffiot render it as an end of hostilities, peace.^[2][5] English catalysis, first “dissolution”, was taken in the 1650s from the Latinized form of the Greek word.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 400 AD – Servius uses the Greek word in his note on the Aeneid.^[1][3]
• 1650s – English catalysis “dissolution” is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A laying down, a giving up (of one's art); retirement.^[4][1]
2. (Late Latin) An end of hostilities, peace.^[2][5][3]

Related words

• English catalysis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Servius, Commentarii in Vergilii carmina, ed. G. Thilo and H. Hagen, Leipzig 1881–1887 (Perseus Digital Library).
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com