Etymologically
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dogma

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdɔɡ.ma][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɔɡ.ma][1]

Forms

dogma n (genitive dogmatis); third declension[1] Laberius has a feminine accusative dogmam, and Fronto an ablative plural dogmatis.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δόγμα (dógma, “opinion, tenet; decree”),[2][1][4] from δοκέω (dokéō, “to suppose, think”),[1][5] which Köbler and Etymonline trace to Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to take, accept”).[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,[5][7] of a philosophical tenet; in one passage of the Academica he still writes it in Greek letters.[7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a tenet of a school of philosophy;[2][7] Georges notes that the native word for it was dēcrētum, and after Augustus also placitum.[3] Laberius has “taught the Pythagorean doctrine” (Pythagoream dogmam doctus).[7][3] Martial and Juvenal also use it.[7]

The Vulgate uses it for a decree, as in the king's cruel decree in Esther (crudele dogma regis).[7][8] In Ecclesiastical Latin it came to mean a defined doctrine of the Church,[9] and medieval writers used it for orthodox belief, for learning in general, and for a decree or precept.[10][11] English borrowed it about 1600, at first in the Latin plural dogmata.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of philosophical tenets.[7][5]
  • 106–43 BC – Laberius has the feminine accusative dogmam.[2][3][5]
  • 100–170 AD – Fronto uses the ablative plural dogmatis.[2][3][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for a royal decree.[7][5]
  • c. 1600 – English borrows it as dogma.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A philosophical tenet, doctrine or principle.[2][7]
  2. (Late Latin) A decree, an order.[7][8]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A defined doctrine of the Church; orthodox belief.[9][10]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Learning, scholarship.[10]

Word family

  • dogmaticus
  • dogmatizō
  • dogmatistes
  • English dogma

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  11. ^ 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