Etymologically
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fundatus

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Forms

fundātus (feminine fundāta, neuter fundātum, comparative fundātior, superlative fundātissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect participle from Latin fundō2 (“to lay the foundations of, found”).[1][2][3] That verb is derived from fundus (“bottom”),[4] which goes back to Proto-Italic *fundo- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰ-n-ó- (“bottom”).[4] The noun's cognates include Sanskrit बुध्न (budhná-, “bottom, foot, root”) and Ancient Greek πυθμήν (puthmḗn, “bottom, depth, root”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in the speech De domo sua, has the superlative in subitas fundatissimae familiae ruinas, “the sudden ruin of a most firmly established family”.[1][5][3]

Semantic evolution

Vitruvius uses the comparative of plaster work laid on a sound base, the literal sense “having secure foundations”.[1][5] Hilary of Poitiers speaks of a ladder set firmly on the earth.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a firmly established family.[1][3]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of plaster work with a sound base.[1][3]
  • c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers uses it of a ladder set firm on the earth.[6][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having secure foundations.[1][5]
  2. (figurative) Securely established, firmly founded.[1][5]

Usage notes

Niermeyer records a medieval fundatus used of fabrics interwoven with gold wire or having a golden border.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill