deficientia

Forms

dēficientia f (genitive dēficientiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dēficiēns + -ia, from the present participle of dēficiō (“to fail, be lacking”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first record is the Ars rhetorica of Fortunatianus, where it is the rhetorical term for ellipsis, one of the ways in which ambiguity arises.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Paulinus of Nola uses it for a want or weakening.^[4][5] In medieval philosophy it is an imperfection or defect;^[6] Thomas Aquinas uses it for a ceasing or falling away and as a synonym of defectus, opposed to indeficientia.^[7] The MLW also records the senses loss, delay, and end or end point.^[6] Regional sources have it for a shortfall (Hungary, 1423),^[8] for feebleness and for the desertion of someone (Poland).^[9] Italian deficienza comes from it.^[3]

Timeline

• 4th century AD – Fortunatianus uses it for ellipsis;^[2][3][10] Köbler dates him with a query.^[2][3][10]
• c. 353–431 AD – Paulinus of Nola uses it for a want.^[4][5][10]
• 1423 – A Hungarian record uses it for a shortfall.^[8]
• 1455 – A Polish text uses it for feebleness.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rhetoric) ellipsis, the leaving out of a word.^[2][3]
2. Want, lack; weakening, exhaustion.^[4][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) imperfection, deficiency, defect.^[6][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Loss; delay.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin) An end, end point; a ceasing.^[6][7]
6. (Medieval Latin) Desertion of someone.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
8. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
9. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de