Etymologically
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furtim

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfʊr.tĩː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfur.tim][1]

Forms

fūrtim (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is from fūr “thief”, or from fūrtum “theft”, with the adverbial suffix -tim, literally “like a thief”.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨fūr⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *bʰōr (“thief”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius.[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant by stealth, secretly, stealthily, with deliberate concealment, as in Plautus, Cicero, Horace and Livy, and without being noticed, imperceptibly, as in Virgil, and Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[2][6][3]

British Medieval Latin used it for stealthily, as in Theodore's Penitential and Alcuin.[7]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[6][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the imperceptible.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. By stealth, secretly, stealthily.[2]
  2. Imperceptibly.[2]

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  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