extremitas

Forms

extrēmitās f (genitive extrēmitātis); third declension^[1] Pliny the Elder has the genitive plural extremitatium.^[2] The TLL records spellings with ⟨est-⟩ and, by loss of the first syllable, ⟨st-⟩.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin extrēmus (“outermost, last”) + -tās.^[4][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in Cicero, who uses it of the outer edge of a region of space and of the line where the highest part of the sky meets the air.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was the outermost part or border of something, and in geometry the line that bounds a figure.^[4] Pliny the Elder used it of the ends of a long object and, in the plural, of the extremities of the body; the grammarian Scaurus of the ending of a word;^[4] Gellius of the end of a period of time; and Quintilian of an extreme case.^[4]

The word was common in Late Latin and in the Middle Ages, of the edge, end or boundary of a thing, a line or a text.^[5][6] Prelates of the Carolingian period called themselves mea extremitas, “my lowliness”, as a title of humility.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the outer limit of space.^[4][8]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the extremities of the body.^[4][8]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of extreme cases.^[4][8]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of the end of a period of time.^[4][8]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the slender ends of limbs.^[6][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The outermost part, the border; the line bounding a figure, the perimeter.^[4][2]
2. The end or extremity of a long object; the farthest point.^[4]
3. (plural) The extremities of the body.^[4]
4. The ending of a word, a suffix.^[4][1]
5. The end of a period of time.^[4]
6. An extreme condition or case.^[4]
7. (Medieval Latin) A title of humility used by prelates of themselves.^[7]

Related words

• English extremity

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de