Etymologically
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gerundium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɡɛˈrʊn.di.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [d͡ʒeˈrun.di.um][1]

Forms

gerundium n (genitive gerundiī or gerundī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin gerendus (“which is to be carried out”), the gerundive of gerō (“to carry, bear”);[1][2] Etymonline cites the gerundive as gerundum.[3] Etymonline reports the old grammarians' explanation that the form expressed the doing, or the need to do, something.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a term of the Late Latin grammarians.[4][5] Diomedes uses it for the gerund,[5][2][6] and in Diomedes and Sacerdos the term (gerundī modus) covers both the gerund and the supine.[7]

Semantic evolution

In the grammarians Diomedes and Priscian it names the gerund, the verbal noun;[5][2] Servius' commentary on Donatus speaks of the gerundī modus, which some editions read as gerundīvus modus.[5][2]

Medieval grammarians kept the term: Alcuin's grammar has it, and later writers in Britain use gerundium and gerundīvum alike for the gerund.[8] It passed into English as gerund in the 1510s, where it was applied to verbal nouns in -ing,[3] into German as Gerundium,[1][4] and into Italian as gerundio.[1][7]

Timeline

  • 3rd century AD – The grammarian Sacerdos uses the term gerundī modus.[7][4]
  • 2nd half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes uses gerundium for the gerund.[5][2][4]
  • 6th century AD – Priscian uses it.[5][2][4]
  • 1510s – English borrows it as gerund.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (grammar) The gerund, the verbal noun inflected in the genitive, dative, accusative and ablative.[5][2][1]
  2. (grammar) In Diomedes' gerundī modus, a class including both the gerund and the supine.[7]

Usage notes

It is not the same as the gerundīvum, the future passive participle, although medieval writers in Britain sometimes use gerundīvum for the gerund too.[1][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  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