Etymologically
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compatior

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔmˈpa.ti.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [komˈpat.t͡si.or][1]

Forms

compatior (present infinitive compatī, perfect active compassus sum); third (-iō variant) conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + patior (“to suffer, endure”).[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Tertullian,[3][4] who says in De anima that the soul suffers together with the body (anima compatitur corpori).[4]

Semantic evolution

Caelius Aurelianus uses it in medicine for suffering together.[3][2] In Augustine it means to feel compassion for others,[3][4] the sense of Christian writers generally;[2] its noun compassiō was an ecclesiastical loan-translation of Ancient Greek συμπάθεια (sumpátheia).[5]

In the Middle Ages it meant to suffer or feel with someone, to have mercy and show it by help, to grieve and to take part in, and also to tolerate; in music it was used of sounds that agree.[6] Church law used it of benefices that can be held together, “to be compatible”.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian says that the soul suffers with the body.[4][9]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of bodily sympathy.[3][9]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it for feeling compassion.[3][4][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Late Latin) To suffer with someone or something, to be affected together.[3][2][4]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To have compassion, to feel pity.[3][2][10]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To show mercy; to tolerate, put up with.[6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Of ecclesiastical benefices: to be compatible.[7][8]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  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 e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
  9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson