doctrinalis

Forms

doctrīnālis (neuter doctrīnāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin doctrīna (“teaching, learning”) + -ālis.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boethius uses it in his translation of Aristotle's Sophistical Refutations (500–524 AD), for arguments that teach from the principles of a discipline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant “relating to teaching” and “theoretical”:^[2][3] Cassiodorus uses it for the teaching of the liberal arts, and Isidore of Seville for theoretical knowledge.^[2][3] In medieval Latin it was used both of teaching and of religious doctrine,^[4] and of a scholarly person; the neuter doctrinale named a textbook.^[4][5] English took it over in the mid-15th century as doctrinal, partly through Old French.^[6]

Timeline

• 500–524 AD – Boethius uses it of instructive arguments.^[2]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in the preface of his book on the liberal arts.^[2][7]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville speaks of scientia doctrinalis, theoretical knowledge.^[3][7]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as doctrinal.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) Relating to teaching, instructive.^[2][4][5]
2. (Late Latin) theoretical.^[3][8]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Relating to religious doctrine, doctrinal.^[4][9]
4. (Medieval Latin) Of a person: scholarly, didactic.^[5]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, as neuter doctrīnāle) A textbook, manual.^[4][5]

Related words

• English doctrinal

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d 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
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson