extensivus

Forms

extēnsīvus (feminine extēnsīva, neuter extēnsīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin extēnsus (“stretched out”) + -īvus,^[2][1] built on the past participle of extendō (“to stretch out, extend”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is the jurist Paulus, in the Digest: words that do not refer to a fixed day but allow the time to be extended are extēnsīva, so that one who refused an inheritance and then changed his mind may still be admitted within a year.^[5][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin it meant “extending, spreading” and “able to be stretched”.^[7][8] Medical writers used it of a pain that spreads and of a swelling that stretches the flesh,^[7][8] Frederick II of the wing's movement of spreading, as against drawing in,^[7] and Albert the Great of heat, which dissolves and extends.^[7] In scholastic philosophy it became the opposite of intēnsīvus: Thomas Aquinas speaks of an extensive infinity and an extensive quantity,^[9][10] and Bradwardine calls potest an extending word, said of both present and future.^[8] Copernicus writes of motion from the centre to the circumference.^[11] The adverb extēnsīvē is also medieval.^[7] English extensive took it first as a medical word, “characterized by swelling”, in the early 15th century, and as “vast, far-reaching” about 1600.^[12]

Timeline

• 1st half of 3rd century AD – The jurist Paulus uses it of words that allow time to be extended.^[5][6]
• 13th century – Albert the Great uses it of heat.^[7][6]
• 3rd quarter of 13th century – Thomas Aquinas sets it against intēnsīvus.^[9][6]
• early 15th century – English extensive is recorded in a medical sense.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (law, of words) Allowing extension or delay of time.^[2][5][13]
2. (Medieval Latin) Extending, spreading.^[7][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) Able to be stretched, yielding.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) Relating to extent, extensive, as opposed to intensive.^[9][10][14]
5. (Medieval Latin) Too long (of sleeves).^[11]

Word family

• extēnsīvē

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
10. ^ a b 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
11. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
14. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE