formula

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfoːr.mʊ.ɫa]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɔr.mu.la]^[1]

Forms

fōrmula f (genitive fōrmulae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of fōrma “form, shape, beauty” with the suffix -ula.^[2][1][3] Lewis and Short arrange its senses after those of ⟨fōrma⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus' Persa, of a girl's pretty looks (fōrmula atque aetātula).^[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense, prettiness, is found only in Plautus, and it also meant a shape or outline, and in Ammianus a shoemaker's last.^[2][4][6] From Livy it meant a register or list, especially of those liable for military service, the territory attached to a state or province, a charter or system, and legal status.^[2] From Cicero it meant the terms of a law or compact, and in Varro a set form of words, especially in Roman law the model plea in the praetor's album, the written formula that defined a lawsuit, so that fōrmulam intendere was to bring an action.^[2] It also meant a rule or standard, a pattern, a standard measure, and in grammar a paradigm.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a set of words, formula, form, rule.^[7] Medieval Latin also used it of a couch or bed frame, a choir stall, and a copy of a document.^[8] English formula is recorded in the 1630s, of words used in a ceremony.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of prettiness.^[2][4][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a set form of words and of a grammatical pattern.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the terms of a law and of the written formula of a lawsuit.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a register and of a territory.^[2][5]
• 1630s – English formula is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Prettiness; shape, outline.^[2]
2. A register, roll, especially of those liable for military service; a territory, jurisdiction.^[2]
3. A charter; a system; legal status.^[2]
4. The terms of a law or compact.^[2]
5. A set form of words, formula, (law) the written formula defining a lawsuit.^[2]
6. A rule, standard; a pattern; a paradigm.^[2]
7. (Medieval Latin) A couch; a choir stall; a copy.^[8]

Word family

• formulārius

Related words

• fōrma
• English formula
• English form

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com