Etymologically
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generaliter

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Forms

generāliter (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin generālis (“general”) + -ter, the adverb of the adjective.[2][1][3] The adjective comes from genus (“birth, kind”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in Cicero's De inventione, which says that time itself is hard to define generaliter, “in general terms”.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Seneca sets it against specialiter, and Quintilian against proprie, “in the proper sense”.[3][6] In the land surveyor Agennius it means “according to class or kind”.[2]

The word stayed in use in Christian Latin for “in general”.[7] In British medieval Latin it served in logic and music theory for what concerns the genus rather than the species.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the De inventione.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–AD 65 – Seneca contrasts it with specialiter.[3][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian contrasts it with proprie.[3][4]
  • 4th/5th century AD – Agennius uses it for “by class or kind”.[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. In general terms, without going into particulars.[2][9][3]
  2. According to class or kind.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) With reference to the genus rather than the species.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b 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 c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b 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
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press