Etymologically
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categoria

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ka.teːˈɡɔ.ri.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ka.teˈɡɔː.ri.a][1]

Forms

catēgoria f (genitive catēgoriae); first declension[1] Also spelled ⟨kategoria⟩, ⟨cathegoria⟩ and ⟨catagoria⟩.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κατηγορία (katēgoría, “charge, accusation; in logic, predication, category”).[1][3][2] The Greek noun comes from κατηγορεῖν (katēgoreîn, “to accuse, assert, predicate”), from κατά (katá, “down, against”) and ἀγορεύειν (agoreúein, “to speak in the assembly”), from ἀγορά (agorá, “assembly”).[3][4] The native Latin word for the logical term is praedicāmentum.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Chalcidius onwards: in his commentary he says that of all the categories it is proper to essence to receive contrary affections.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It was above all a term of logic for Aristotle's categories.[2][5] Marius Victorinus says that according to Aristotle there are ten categories, ten things in which everything in the world is contained;[2] Augustine recalls reading the ten categories of Aristotle,[5][6] and taunts his opponent Julian with them;[2] Boethius calls them the ten predicaments that the Greeks name categoriae, and Isidore of Seville and Cassiodorus treat them in their handbooks.[2][5] In the sense of the Greek word “accusation” it is rare: Jerome calls an opponent's apology rather an accusation and a rambling speech against him, and Macrobius equates it with abuse.[2][5][6]

Medieval scholars used it for the categories and for the book of Aristotle that treats them: Alcuin writes of deep questions explained by the subtlety of the categories, and Ermenrich lists substance, quantity, quality and the rest.[7] It could also mean a kind or class in general.[7] English category came from it through French in the 1580s.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses it of the categories.[2][3]
  • first half of the 4th century AD – Marius Victorinus counts the ten categories of Aristotle.[2][3]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine writes of reading Aristotle's ten categories.[5][2][3]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it for an accusation.[2][3]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville treats Aristotle's categories.[2][3]
  • 1580s – English borrows category through French.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) An accusation, a charge.[5][6][2][1]
  2. (Late Latin, logic) A category, a predicament;[5][6][2][8] (plural) Aristotle's ten categories.[5][6][2][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Aristotle's Categories, the book.[7][9]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A kind, class.[7]

Word family

  • categoricus

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 m n o p Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ 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