Etymologically
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finis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfiː.nɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfiː.nis][1]

Forms

fīnis m or f (genitive fīnis); third declension[1] It is masculine, but feminine in Accius, Lucretius, Virgil and sometimes in Cicero and Livy; the ablative is fīne or fīnī.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fīni-, a reconstruction de Vaan marks as uncertain, and its further origin is disputed.[4][1] Walde and Hofmann, followed by the OLD and Georges, reconstruct *fīg-s-ni- “driven in”, from fīgō, as a word for a material boundary mark such as a stone or pole.[4][2][5] Another possibility is *bʰiH-ni- from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyH- (“to strike”), especially in view of the glossed form perfinēs “you must strike”.[4][1] Bammesberger connects it with Proto-Germanic *bainaz (“straight”) and Proto-Germanic *bainą (“bone, leg”), which may have meant a pole or upright boundary mark.[4][1] Lewis and Short and Wiktionary also mention *fid-nis from findō “to split”.[3][1] Döderlein's derivation from Ancient Greek φθίνω (phthínō, “to wane”) is not followed.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[4][2] who speaks of leading an army out of its territory (de finibus) and of a boundary stretched to its utmost.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was the boundary of a territory or field and the object that marked it; the plural fīnēs meant the land within the boundaries, a territory.[2][3] From there it was a limit in any respect (sine fine, without end), a limit in time, a dividing line between categories, the finishing post of a race, the goal of a journey, and the farthest point of an empire.[2]

It then meant the end or close of an action or period, the end of life, the outcome of an affair, its completion, the highest degree (the consulship as the finis honorum) and, in philosophy, the purpose or final cause, the finis bonorum being the supreme good.[2][3] Quintilian also used it for a definition.[2]

In medieval Latin it was a subdivision of the pagus, the territory of a village or manor, a field in the three-course system, and, in a new sense, an agreement or settlement and the payment made under it, the source of the English legal fine.[7][8] Later juridical texts use it for an amount.[1] It survives as French fin, Italian fine, Spanish fin and Portuguese fim.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of territory and of limits.[2][9]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato has the quasi-preposition fini, “up to”.[2][9]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a limit in time and of neighbours disputing boundaries.[2][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero defines the finis bonorum, the supreme good.[2][9]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it for a definition.[2][9]
  • 1148 – An English charter uses fines of the bounds of land.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A boundary, a frontier; an object marking a boundary.[2][3]
  2. (plural) The land within boundaries, a territory.[2][3]
  3. The finishing post of a race; a target; the destination of a journey.[2]
  4. The farthest point, the extremity.[2]
  5. A limit, a bound; a limiting condition.[2][3]
  6. A limit in time, a term.[2]
  7. A definition.[2]
  8. An end, a close; the end of life, death.[2][3]
  9. An outcome; the completion of an undertaking; the highest point.[2]
  10. (philosophy) The purpose or final cause, as in finis bonorum, the supreme good.[2][3]
  11. (Medieval Latin) A subdivision of the pagus; the territory of a village or manor; a field in the three-course system.[7]
  12. (Medieval Latin) An agreement, a settlement; a payment made under it, a fine.[7][8]

Word family

  • affīnis
  • cōnfīnis
  • fīnālis
  • fīniō
  • fīnitimus
  • quadrifīnium
  • arcifinius
  • trifīnium

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes finis, the boundary as a line, from terminus, a stone marking a point, and līmes, a ridge marking a line.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b c 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de