comprehensivus

Forms

comprehēnsīvus (feminine comprehēnsīva, neuter comprehēnsīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin comprehendō (“to grasp; to comprehend”) + -īvus, formed on the participle stem ⟨comprehēns-⟩ of the verb.^[2][3][1][4] Conte calls it a Late Latin word.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first author is Priscian, who uses it of collective nouns: names such as olīvētum “olive grove” and vīnētum “vineyard” are comprehēnsīva, taking in many things under one word.^[2][3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short cite it in the sense “comprehensible, conceivable” from a treatise on definition under the name of Boethius.^[8]

In medieval Latin it meant “including, comprehensive”, already in Eriugena,^[9][10][11] and in scholastic philosophy “grasping, apprehending”, of the mind and the senses:^[11][9] Albertus Magnus calls God comprehēnsīvus because he grasps the being of each thing.^[11] Theologians distinguished a nōtitia comprehēnsīva, a knowledge by which a thing is known as fully as it can be known,^[12] and a vision of God by direct sight.^[11][9] Polish documents also use it of something large and roomy.^[13]

It is the source of Italian comprensivo,^[5] and English comprehensive came from it through French in the 1610s.^[4]

Timeline

• 6th century AD – Priscian uses it of collective nouns.^[2][3][7]
• 1227–1241 – The register of Gregory IX speaks of a faculty of the mind that grasps.^[11][7]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it of God and of the senses.^[11][7]
• 1412 – A Polish document uses it in the sense “containing”.^[13]
• 1610s – English comprehensive is borrowed through French.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin, grammar) Collective (of nouns).^{[2][3][6][5][14]}
2. (Late Latin) Comprehensible, conceivable.^[8][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) Including, embracing; comprehensive, inclusive.^{[10][11][9][13]}
4. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) Grasping, perceiving, apprehending (of the mind or the senses).^[11][9]
5. (Medieval Latin, theology) Knowing fully; seeing God directly.^[11][12]
6. (Medieval Latin) Large, roomy.^[13]

Related words

• comprehēnsiō
• English comprehensive

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e 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
10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
12. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
13. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
14. ^ 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