distributivus

Forms

distribūtīvus (feminine distribūtīva, neuter distribūtīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin distribūtiō + -īvus, from distribūtiō (“division, distribution”),^[1] itself from distribuō (“to divide, distribute”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Priscian uses it in grammar: a conjunction may be called distributive because it assigns different things to different persons, and he speaks of distributive nouns.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Boethius, translating Aristotle's Topics, describes justice as a disposition that produces or distributes equality.^[2] In medieval philosophy iustitia distributiva (distributive justice) became a fixed term of Thomas Aquinas, who also uses the word for what divides or separates;^[5] in logic it described a term taken in a general, distributive sense.^[6][7] English borrowed it in the mid-15th century, from Old French and directly from Late Latin.^[8]

Timeline

• 6th century AD – Priscian uses it of conjunctions and nouns.^[2][9]
• 1239–1256 – Bracton uses it of the word quis in English law.^[7][9]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as distributive.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Distributive, apportioning.^[4][3][10]
2. (grammar) Distributive, of conjunctions and numerals or nouns that assign things one by one.^[2][4]
3. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) Distributive, of justice; dividing, separating.^[5][6]
4. (Medieval Latin, logic) Taken in a general sense.^[7][6]

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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
6. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson