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deforis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word deforis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
after 220 AD, Itala
Ultimate origin
Latin dē,forīs
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin de
French de
Italian da
Italian di
Italian dove
Latin deforis
French dehors
From the same root
Latin deintus ← de
Latin denuo ← de
Latin deretro ← de
Latin desuper ← de
Latin desursum ← de
French davantage ← de
French debout ← de
French devant ← de
Italian dappertutto ← da
Italian davvero ← da

Forms

dēforīs (not comparable), also written dē forīs[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē (“from”) + forīs (“outside”), whose parts coalesced.[4][3][5] The grammarian Cledonius rejects it, with deintus, because a preposition should not be joined to an adverb of place.[4] It is the source of Italian difuori and French dehors.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Old Latin Bible (Itala), where the Lyons manuscript of Exodus says the ark was gilded deintus et dēforīs, “inside and out”.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Bible translations and in late medical and veterinary writers (Theodorus Priscianus, Chiron, Vegetius) it means “outside, on the outside” or “from outside”, often opposed to intus and intrīnsecus.[4][1] The Vulgate has inclūsit eum Dominus dēforīs, “the Lord shut him in from outside” (Gen. 7.16), and uses it as a preposition with the genitive: quod dēforīs est calicis, “the outside of the cup” (Matt. 23.25).[6][7] Medieval writers use it for “outside, out of doors”, “from outside”, of things external or worldly, and for “besides, moreover”.[2][8][9]

Timeline

  • after 220 AD – The Old Latin Bible has it for “outside”.[4][5]
  • c. 400 AD – Theodorus Priscianus uses it in medicine.[1][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has inclūsit eum Dominus dēforīs (Gen. 7.16).[7][5]
  • 5th century AD? – Cledonius rejects it as incorrect.[4][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. outside, on the outside.[7][8][6]
  2. From outside.[1][8][10]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Out of doors; outwards; besides, moreover.[2]

Preposition

  1. (with genitive) Outside of.[6][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  2. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Deforis.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/deforis. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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