categoricus

Forms

catēgoricus (feminine catēgorica, neuter catēgoricum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κατηγορικός (katēgorikós),^[2][1][3] from κατηγορία (katēgoría).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Chalcidius' commentary on the Timaeus,^[1][5][3] meaning “relating to the categories” or “predicative”.^[1][6]

Semantic evolution

Sidonius Apollinaris uses it,^[2] and in Boethius and Cassiodorus it describes the categorical syllogism, as opposed to the hypothetical one.^[7][6] Medieval logic kept it for what is categorical, positive or unqualified;^[8][9] the MLW also records a wider sense, “having the rank of a category, fundamental”, and its use as a noun for a categorical proposition.^[9] Roger Bacon explains it as “predicative”, from a verb for “to predicate”.^[8] English took it over as categorical in the 1590s, as a term of logic.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses it of the categories.^[1][3]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it.^[2][3]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of the categorical syllogism.^[7][6][3]
• 1590s – English borrows it as categorical.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to the categories; predicative.^[1][5][6]
2. (logic, of a syllogism) Categorical, as opposed to hypothetical.^[7][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Categorical, positive, unqualified.^[8][9]
4. (Medieval Latin) Having the rank of a category, fundamental.^[9]

Related words

• categoria

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c 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 c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften