Etymologically
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evidentia

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Forms

ēvidentia f (genitive ēvidentiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from ēvidēns “evident”, from ex- and videō “to see”, with the suffix -ia.[2][1][3] Cicero uses it with ⟨perspicuitās⟩ to render Ancient Greek ἐνάργεια (enárgeia, “vividness”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Cicero, of obviousness.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero it meant the quality of being evident to the mind, obviousness, and what is evident.[2][5] In Quintilian it meant in rhetoric vividness, clearness.[2][4] In Apuleius it meant being manifest to the senses, visibility.[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant evidence.[7] Medieval Latin used it for proof, evidence.[8] It was borrowed into French évidence and Italian evidenza, and Old French gave English evidence about 1300, from Late Latin ēvidentia “proof”.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of obviousness.[2][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of vividness.[2][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of visibility.[2][6]
  • c. 1300 – English evidence is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Visibility.[2]
  2. Obviousness; what is evident.[2]
  3. (rhetoric) Vividness.[2]
  4. (Late Latin) Proof, evidence.[3][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill