Etymologically
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definitus

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Forms

dēfīnītus (feminine dēfīnīta, neuter dēfīnītum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēfīniō (“to bound, fix, define”), its perfect participle used as an adjective.[1][2][3] That verb is a compound of dē- and fīniō (“to bound, limit”), from fīnis (“boundary”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Cicero,[6][7] who speaks of certum in caelo ac definitum locum, “a fixed and definite place in heaven”.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero it means limited and clearly marked off: a law that is certa quaedam et definita,[1][3] or a letter whose first two heads contain nothing definite or certain.[2] In rhetoric and logic it was the term for questions about particular persons and times, as opposed to general ones (infinitae), in Cicero and Quintilian.[1][2][3]

Medieval Latin used it for what is fixed or settled, and the neuter definitum for a decision, definition or decree.[8] Köbler's medieval example is in the formulary of Marculf.[6] English took it over as definite about 1500.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for “definite” and for particular questions in rhetoric.[1][7][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian distinguishes general and particular (definitae) questions.[1][2][6]
  • 720–730 – Marculf's formulary uses it.[6]
  • c. 1500 – Borrowed into English as definite.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having limits, finite, limited; kept within its proper limits.[1]
  2. Clearly defined, precise, definite.[1][7][3]
  3. (rhetoric, logic) Concerned with the particular, as opposed to the general.[1][2][3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Established, fixed, immutable.[8]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, neuter definitum) A decision, definition, decree.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill