extravagans

Forms

extrāvagāns (genitive extrāvagantis); third-declension one-termination adjective, also used as a noun^[1][2] The MLW also records it written as two words, extra vagans.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin extrā (“outside”) + vagor (“to wander”) in Medieval Latin.^[2][3][4] It is the present participle of extrāvagor (“to wander outside or beyond”).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record Köbler and the MLW give is a charter from Bern of 1225, which cites a decretal found “in the fourth Extravagantes”, a collection of papal decrees outside the main canonical collections.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In canon law the word named papal constitutions that were not included in the Decretals,^[6][2][4] at first with constitutio and then as a noun, extravagantes.^[4][7] In Czech sources it was also the name of the first compilation of Bernard of Pavia.^[7]

As an ordinary adjective it meant extraordinary or additional, as of a payment beyond the usual one,^[2][4] and external, of people living outside an estate's bounds.^[2] British sources also use it for wandering: of an itinerant friar, of a stray mare, and of a digression in a text.^[4] In Hungarian and Polish sources it means standing apart, independent, unusual, or out of the way.^[8][3]

English took it over in the late 14th century in the canon-law phrase “constitutions extravagant”, and later used it for “rambling” and “extraordinary”.^[5]

Timeline

• 1225 – A charter from Bern cites a decretal in the Extravagantes.^[2][1]
• 1227 – A Rhineland charter uses it of an additional payment.^[2][1]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as extravagant for papal decrees outside the Decretals.^[5]
• 1384 – A British text uses it of a friar wandering outside his district.^[4]
• 1512 – A Polish legal text uses it of out-of-the-way roads.^[3]
• 1518 – A Hungarian source uses it of shields standing apart.^[8]
• 1564 – A British record uses it of a stray mare.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (canon law, of a papal constitution) Not included in the collection of the Decretals.^[6][4]
2. Extraordinary, supplementary, additional.^[2][4]
3. External, living outside the bounds.^[2]
4. Wandering, itinerant;^[4] (of animals) stray.^[4]
5. Standing apart, independent; unusual.^[8][3]

Noun

1. (canon law, chiefly plural) A papal decree outside the canonical collections; the Extravagantes.^[2][4][7]
2. A digression.^[4]

Related words

• English extravagant

References

1. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE