excitabilis

Forms

excitābilis (neuter excitābile); third-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin excitō + -bilis.^[3][4] The verb is formed from ex- and citō² (“to set in motion”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only ancient use is in the Chronic Diseases of Caelius Aurelianus, in the 5th century, where it describes a rousing kind of melody played on the flute.^[3][6][4]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant “rousing, stimulating”, an active sense.^[6][1][7] Medieval Latin, as in Albertus Magnus, gave it a passive sense, “that can be roused or stirred”, and used it of sleep in the sense “light”.^[8] British sources give it as “excitable, that can be aroused”.^[9] English excitable, from about 1600, was not taken from it but formed from excite and -able.^[7] Conte counts it as the Late Latin source of Italian eccitabile.^[10]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of a rousing melody.^[3][4]
• c. 1600 – English forms excitable separately, from excite.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) Rousing, stimulating.^[6][1][10]
2. (Medieval Latin) That can be roused, excitable.^[8][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of sleep: light.^[8]

Word family

• inexcitābilis

References

1. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b 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
10. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier