Etymologically
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favorabilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fa.woːˈraː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [fa.voˈraː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

favōrābilis (neuter favōrābile, comparative favōrābilius, adverb favōrābiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin favor (“goodwill, favour”) + -ābilis.[2][3][1] favor comes from faveō (“to be favourable”),[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *faw-ē-; for the root he prefers Lubotsky's Proto-Indo-European *bhh2u̯-eh1- (“to be favourable to”), connected with Old Irish báe (“profit, benefit”), to other proposals.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short think it is not found before Augustus and perhaps first in Velleius Paterculus,[5][6] who writes that envy of Pompey made the triumph of Lucullus and Metellus popular with all the best men: Luculli et Metelli triumphum invidia Pompeii apud optimum quemque fecit favorabilem.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Of persons and things it means regarded with favour, popular,[2][5] as in Quintilian, Tacitus and Suetonius,[5] and also likely to win favour, agreeable or conciliatory, as Quintilian's pleasing eloquence and Tacitus' winning speech.[2][5] Pliny the Younger has the comparative: to plead rather than defend oneself is favorabilius et tutius, more winning and safer.[7] In law it describes a case that deserves favourable or preferential treatment, as in Ulpian.[2][7] Tertullian uses it actively, favouring.[7] Church Latin has it as favourable.[8] It was borrowed into French and Spanish as favorable and favorable, and through French into English as favourable.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius Paterculus, of a popular triumph.[5][2][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of pleasing eloquence.[5][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of a winning speech.[5][6]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian, of a case deserving favour in law.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Regarded with favour, popular, well liked.[2][5][1]
  2. Likely to win favour, agreeable, conciliatory.[2][5][1]
  3. (law) Deserving favourable or preferential treatment.[2][7]
  4. (Late Latin) Favouring, favourable.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson