Etymologically
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frequentia

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [frɛˈkʷɛn.ti.a][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [freˈkʷɛn.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

frequentia f (genitive frequentiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from frequēns “crowded, frequent” with the suffix -ia.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Rhetorica ad Herennium, which he dates 86/82 BC.[4] The OLD's earliest citations for most senses are from Cicero.[2]

Semantic evolution

The TLL notes it means both a multitude of persons or things and the act of coming together.[3] It meant a dense mass, as in Vitruvius, populousness, crowdedness, and a large attendance or concourse, a crowd, as in Cicero.[2][5] It meant a great number of things, abundance, population, as in Columella, and frequent occurrence, frequency, assiduous attendance on a person.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant frequency, multitude, crowd.[6] British Medieval Latin used it of a large number or amount.[7] English frequency came in the 1550s, first as “crowdedness”, and in the 1640s “frequent occurrence”.[8]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium has the word.[4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of crowds and of frequency.[2][4]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a dense mass.[2][4]
  • 1550s – English frequency is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A dense mass; populousness; crowdedness.[2]
  2. A large attendance; a crowd.[2]
  3. Abundance; a multitude; population.[2]
  4. Frequency; constant attendance.[2]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com