evocativus

Forms

ēvocātīvus (feminine ēvocātīva, neuter ēvocātīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ēvocātus (“veteran recalled to service”) + -īvus,^[3][4] from ēvocō (“to call out, summon”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found only in inscriptions, always of stipendia, the years of service a soldier did as an evocatus, a veteran called back to the army.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Latin inscriptions it meant “relating to service as an evocatus”.^[3][4] Albertus Magnus used it in the sense “drawing out”, of the motion of the sun's light and heat that brings nourishment to the outer parts.^[6] English took it over in the 1650s as evocative, “tending to call forth”.^[5]

Timeline

• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it in the sense “drawing out”.^[6][7]
• 1650s – English borrows it as evocative.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to service as an ēvocātus, a veteran recalled to the army (of stipendia, years of service).^[3][4][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Drawing or bringing out.^[6]

Related words

• English evocative

References

1. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de