Etymologically
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formidabilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɔr.miːˈdaː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [for.miˈdaː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

formīdābilis (neuter formīdābile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin formīdō (“to fear”) + -bilis, from the verb ⟨formīdō⟩, which is formed on the noun formīdō (“fear, dread”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL dates it from Ovid, who in the Metamorphoses says of a sluggish snake that it had frightened no one.[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic and post-classical word for what inspires fear, terrible or frightening;[6][2] Gellius and Seneca use it in prose, and Statius has the neuter as an adverb, “laughing terribly”.[6][5]

Medieval writers used it of fearsome peoples, rulers and punishments,[7][8] and the MLW also records it in the sense “fearful, timid”.[8] Through Old French formidable it gave English formidable, recorded from the mid-15th century.[3]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the Metamorphoses.[4][9]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a terrifying appearance and sound.[6][9]
  • 796 – Alcuin calls the Huns terrible in their ancient savagery.[7]
  • mid-15th century – English borrows it through French as formidable.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Inspiring fear, terrifying, formidable.[2][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Fearful, timid.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b 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 c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de