extasis

Forms

extasis f (genitive extasis or extaseōs or extasios); third declension^[1] Also spelled ⟨ecstasis⟩ and ⟨exstasis⟩, under which most dictionaries file it; the manuscripts mix ⟨ecst-⟩, ⟨exst-⟩ and ⟨ext-⟩.^[2][3][4] The accusative is ⟨-in⟩ or ⟨-im⟩, the ablative ⟨-ī⟩.^[2][3] Medieval spellings include ⟨estasis⟩, ⟨exthasis⟩, ⟨hectasis⟩ and ⟨hestasis⟩.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἔκστασις (ékstasis, “displacement; astonishment, trance”).^[1][2][3][7] The Greek noun belongs to ἐξιστάναι (existánai, “to put out of place; to drive out of one's mind”).^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a word of the Christian writers, found from the Old Latin Bible on.^[2] Its first author is Tertullian, who uses it in his work on the soul and in the one on fasting for a trance, a being beside oneself.^[2][4][8][9]

Semantic evolution

It meant a state of being outside oneself, a trance or rapture,^[4][3][10] and also terror or amazement: the Vulgate uses it for amazement in the Acts of the Apostles.^[4][3] Jerome and Augustine use it,^[9][3] and the glossaries explain it as excessus mentis, a going out of the mind, and as fear.^[11]

In Medieval Latin it kept the senses trance and stupor and added great joy;^[12] it was also a swoon, a loss of consciousness, and a glossary renders it by French pasmeson, fainting.^[13][14][15] Aldhelm writes of Saint John seeing many sights in ecstasy.^[14] Thomas Aquinas explains that a man suffers extasis when he is placed outside himself: in knowing, when he is raised above sense and reason, or sinks below them into madness, and in desire, when his longing goes out to another.^[16] English ecstasy came in the late 14th century, through Old French estaise, from Late Latin extasis.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a trance.^[2][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine writes of ecstasy in a letter.^[3][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of amazement in the Acts of the Apostles.^[4][3][5]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm writes of Saint John's ecstasy.^[14][5]
• 3rd quarter of 13th century – Thomas Aquinas defines the state of being outside oneself.^[16][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows ecstasy through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A being beside oneself; ecstasy, trance, rapture.^{[4][3][10][1]}
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Terror, amazement.^[4][3][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A swoon, loss of consciousness.^[13][14][15]
4. (Medieval Latin) Great joy, rejoicing.^[12]

Related words

• English ecstasy

Usage notes

Polish sources of the 14th–16th centuries use extasis also for ectasis, the grammatical lengthening of a vowel.^[17] The Lexicon Bohemorum records ecstasis as the name of a plant, nightshade.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
12. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
13. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
14. ^ a b c d 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
15. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
16. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
17. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
18. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences