fluctuatio

Forms

flūctuātiō f (genitive flūctuātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin flūctuō (“to move in waves, waver”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] The verb is made from flūctus (“wave”), from fluō (“to flow”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Livy,^[4] who speaks of a wavering of minds, flūctuātiō animōrum, in which people could be caught off guard.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

L&S notes that it is not found before Augustus and is very rare.^[6] It meant restless movement like that of waves, swaying or shaking: Seneca describes an angry man with trembling limbs, restless hands and a flūctuātiō of the whole body.^[2][6] Transferred to the mind, it meant wavering between conflicting thoughts or feelings, hesitation,^[2][6] as in Seneca's “fluctuation of a bad mind”.^[7] The Vulgate has it in Sirach,^[6] and Stelten glosses it as insecurity, hesitation, vacillation.^[8]

British medieval Latin used it of the wave-motion of the sea, in Orderic Vitalis among others, and in heraldry for engrailing.^[9] English borrowed it in the mid-15th century as fluctuation, from Old French or directly from Latin.^[5]

Timeline

• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy speaks of a wavering of minds.^[6][7][4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the agitation of the body.^[2][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Sirach.^[6][4]
• 1120–1141 – Orderic Vitalis uses it of the motion of the sea.^[9][4]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as fluctuation.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Restless motion, as of waves; swaying, agitation.^[2][6]
2. (figurative) Wavering of the mind, hesitation, vacillation.^[2][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) The wave-motion of the sea.^[9]
4. (Medieval Latin, heraldry) Engrailing.^[9]

Related words

• English fluctuation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c d 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