distincte

Forms

distinctē (comparative distinctius, superlative distinctissimē)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin distinctus (“distinct”) + -ē,^[1] the adverb of the participle of distinguō (“to separate, distinguish”).^[3][2] De Vaan explains that verb as ⟨dis-⟩ with a root meaning “to push”, so “to push apart, mark off”, from Proto-Italic *ste-n-gʷ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ-e/o- (“to push, thrust”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it first,^[3] for speaking “articulately and distinctly” (articulātim distīnctēque dīcere).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is “clearly, distinctly”, of speaking, writing and marking out;^[1][2] it also means “so as to tell one thing from another”, as when Pliny the Younger says he has treated certain matters distinctly and step by step.^[1] In Cicero it can also praise a style of speaking that is elegant and well ordered.^[2] The comparative is in Pliny the Younger, and the superlative in Cassiodorus.^[2]

British medieval writers used it of things set out with their parts clearly distinguished, and of distinct articulation.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of clear and elegant speaking.^[2][3]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses the superlative.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Clearly, distinctly.^[1][2]
2. So as to distinguish one thing from another.^[1]
3. In an elegant, well-ordered way.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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. ^ 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