forsitan

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɔr.sɪ.tan]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɔr.si.tan]^[1]

Forms

forsitan (not comparable)^[1] In Terence it is printed as three words.^[2] Related forms are forsan, fortan and fortasse.^[3]

Etymology

It is from ⟨fors sit an⟩ “chance may be whether”, “perchance it be that”: fors “chance”, sit and an “whether”.^[2][4][5][1] De Vaan traces ⟨fors⟩ to Proto-Italic *forti- (“luck”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥-ti- (“bearing, case”).^[5] Isidore says it is written with ⟨n⟩ at the end because its full form is “sī forte tandem”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Terence, whom Köbler dates 190–159 BC.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

It meant it may be, perhaps, peradventure, as in Cicero's forsitan quaerātis “perhaps you may ask”, Sallust and Virgil.^[2][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant perhaps, perchance, maybe.^[8]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[2][7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Perhaps, it may be, perchance.^[2][3]

Related words

• fors
• forsan
• fortasse
• fortūna

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson