Etymologically
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fortasse

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɔrˈtaːs.sɛ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [forˈtas.se][1]

Forms

fortāsse (not comparable)[1] A by-form fortassis is rare and not in Caesar; it is found in Plautus, Cicero and Horace.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from forte (“by chance”), the ablative of fors (“chance”); the ending is unclear, but de Vaan and the OLD think it continues ⟨*forte an sit⟩, “by chance it may be”, though the phonetics, especially the short final vowel, are hard to explain.[3][4] fors goes back to Proto-Italic *forti- (“luck”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥-ti- (“a bearing”), the root of ferō (“to carry”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] who asks an tū fortasse fuistī meae mātrī obstetrīx?, “or were you perhaps my mother's midwife?”.[4]

Semantic evolution

Fortasse is “it may be, perhaps, possibly”, with the indicative, the subjunctive or an accusative and infinitive, and is sometimes ironic (Plautus: lūdis fortasse mē?, “are you perhaps making fun of me?”).[4][2][1] With numbers it is “about, approximately” (Plautus: she could be bought ad quadrāgintā fortasse … minīs, “for about forty minae”).[4][1]

Church Latin glosses it “perhaps”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: an tū fortasse fuistī meae mātrī obstetrīx?.[4][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses fortassis.[2][6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. perhaps, possibly, maybe.[4][2][1][5]
  2. About, approximately (with numbers).[4][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de