constitutivus

Forms

cōnstitūtīvus (feminine cōnstitūtīva, neuter cōnstitūtīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin cōnstitūtus + -īvus,^[2] from the past participle of cōnstituō (“to set up, establish”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marius Victorinus, in the first half of the 4th century, uses it in his writings on definition, of a power and of equity that is “constitutive”, that is, serving to define.^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

It was first a term of logic: Boethius distinguishes differences that divide genera from those that constitute species.^[2] In the same sense the 10th-century scholar Gunzo quotes Porphyry's differences that are constitutive of species, rendering Porphyry's Ancient Greek συστατικαί (sustatikaí).^[5]

Scholastic philosophy used it for what makes up or determines the nature of a thing, the opposite of what only distinguishes it;^[6][5] British writers have it for the parts that make up a whole.^[7] In law it meant valid or effective,^[5] and of laws, originating.^[7]

Timeline

• first half of the 4th century AD – Marius Victorinus uses it of definition.^[2][3]
• c. 965 – Gunzo quotes Porphyry's differences constitutive of species.^[5][3]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Constitutive, determining the nature or essence of something; serving to define.^[2][5][8][4]
2. Constituent, component.^[8][7]
3. (Medieval Latin, law) Valid, effective.^[5]
4. (Medieval Latin) Of laws: originating.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
7. ^ a b c d 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
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson