finitivus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [fiː.niːˈtiː.wʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fi.niˈtiː.vus]^[1]

Forms

fīnītīvus (feminine fīnītīva, neuter fīnītīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fīniō (“to limit, define”) + -īvus.^[2][3][1] ⟨fīniō⟩ is from fīnis (“boundary, end”), whose etymology de Vaan calls disputed.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Quintilian, of the status fīnītīvus.^[5][6] Köbler dates Quintilian c. 35–95/96 AD.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A post-Augustan technical term of rhetoric and grammar, it meant defining, explaining, and of a disputed point dependent on the definition of terms, as in Quintilian's status fīnītīvus.^[2][6]

In Medieval Latin it meant final, definitive.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it.^[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (rhetoric) Defining; dependent on the definition of terms.^[2][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) Final, definitive.^[7]

Related words

• fīnālis
• fīniēns
• fīniō
• fīnis
• fīnitimus
• fīnītiō
• fīnītor
• fīnītus

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. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill