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