Etymologically
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facticius

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [fakˈtiː.ki.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fakˈtiː.t͡ʃi.us][1]

Forms

factīcius (feminine factīcia, neuter factīcium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from factus “made”, the participle of faciō, with the suffix -īcius, and is also spelled ⟨factītius⟩.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.[4] Lewis and Short call it post-Augustan and cite Pliny.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant made by art, manufactured, artificial, as Pliny's sāl factīcius and artificial colours, as opposed to what arises naturally.[2][5][6] The glosses explain it as what is made, not what grows of itself.[3] Priscian uses it of words formed by imitation of sounds, onomatopoeic.[6][7]

In Medieval Latin a factīcius was one who had voluntarily put himself under a lord's power.[8] It survives in Italian fatticcio, Spanish hechizo and Portuguese feitiço “charm, sorcery”, the source of English fetish in the 1610s.[1][9] English factitious is a learned borrowing of the 1640s.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has the word.[4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it of artificial salt.[5][4]
  • 1610s – English fetish is recorded, from Portuguese feitiço.[9]
  • 1640s – English factitious is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Made by art, artificial, factitious.[2][5]
  2. (grammar) Onomatopoeic.[6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) As a noun, a voluntary dependant of a lord.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com