dubie

Forms

dubiē (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dubius (“doubtful”) + -ē, the adverb of the adjective.^[2][1] De Vaan derives dubius from an older adjective “in doubt”, perhaps from Proto-Italic *du(i)-fwo- and Proto-Indo-European *dui-bʰh₂u-o- (“double, of two forms”), with the root “to be, become”; he compares Ancient Greek διφυής (diphuḗs, “with two shapes”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero,^[4] who speaks of a sign given doubtfully being taken as certain.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means hesitatingly, as Ovid's Pygmalion rejoicing hesitantly and afraid of being deceived, or uncertainly and ambiguously.^[2] Lewis & Short note that it is used mostly with a negative, especially from Augustus on: haud dubiē “undoubtedly, certainly”, as Sallust's “now undoubtedly the victor”, occurs about seventy times in Livy and also in Tacitus and Suetonius, while Cicero has nōn dubiē only once.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a doubtful sign and of a report not in doubt.^[2][5][4]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of a man undoubtedly the victor.^[5][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy often has haud dubiē.^[5][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of hesitant joy.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Hesitantly, with hesitation.^[2][1]
2. Uncertainly, doubtfully, ambiguously.^[2][5][1]
3. With a negative, haud dubiē, nōn dubiē: undoubtedly, certainly.^[5]

Related words

• dubius
• dubitō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press