futilis

Forms

fūtilis (neuter fūtile, adverb fūtile or fūtiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is apparently from Latin fundō¹ (“to pour”) + -ilis¹, from the stem ⟨fut-⟩ seen in fūtis (“water vessel”).^[2][1] Georges explains it as “easily poured out”, from the supine ⟨futum⟩ of the verb.^[3] Wiktionary also mentions a derivation from a verb *fūtō (“to strike”).^[1] De Vaan traces this noun to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeu-ti-, from the root of fundō, Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰu-n-d- (“to pour”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example is in a tragedy of Ennius, who calls it worthless (“futtilum est”) to bear a false suspicion harshly.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Grammarians explained that a futtile was a vessel with a wide mouth and a pointed bottom, used in the rites of Vesta and Ceres, which could not stand up because the water for those rites must not touch the ground.^[3] The literal sense of letting things out easily appears in Phaedrus,^[3] and Virgil calls ice that easily shatters futilis.^[2][3] From this it came to mean vain, pointless or futile of things,^[2] and of people weak or untrustworthy.^[2][3]

English futile (1550s) comes from French or directly from this word.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for “worthless”.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a futile eagerness.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil applies it to brittle ice.^[2][5]
• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it of dogs that easily let things drop.^[3][5]
• 1550s – English borrows it as futile.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Pouring out easily; brittle, fragile (of vessels or ice).^[2][3]
2. (of things) Vain, pointless, futile; trifling, of no importance.^[2]
3. (of persons) Weak, ineffective; unreliable, worthless.^[2][7]
4. futtile (noun): a ritual vessel with a wide mouth and a pointed base.^[3]

Word family

• fūtile

Usage notes

The OLD and Georges write it futtilis and give fūtilis as another spelling.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson