Etymologically
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habitudo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ha.bɪˈtuː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [a.biˈtuː.do][1]

Forms

habitūdō f (genitive habitūdinis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin habeō (“to have, hold”) + -tūdō,[2][3] formed on the stem of the participle habitus.[4][1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence (190–159 BC)[6] has it in the Eunuchus for the condition and look of a man's body: qui color, nitor, vestitus, quae habitudo est corporis! “what colour, what gloss, what clothes, what a figure!”[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly ante- and post-classical;[4] Classical Latin used habitus instead.[4] The Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of a good condition of the body,[4] and Apuleius used it of the bearing of a soldier and of the form or state of other things.[2] The grammarian Donatus explained it from the comparative habitior “in better condition”.[7]

Medieval Latin widened it to a state, condition or nature, to habit, and to a relation between things;[8][9] in British sources it could also mean a stout build or strength.[9] In Thomas Aquinas it is a relation or proportion, a near-synonym of relatio and ratio,[10] and later logic used it for what links two terms.[1] English habitude (c. 1400) comes through Old French.[5]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a man's physical appearance.[2][6]
  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of a good bodily condition.[4][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for bearing and for the state of things.[2][6]
  • c. 1400 – English borrows it as habitude through Old French.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The condition or physical appearance of the body.[2][4]
  2. The form or condition of other things.[2]
  3. Bearing, carriage.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) State, condition, nature.[8][9][11]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A relation, relationship, proportion.[8][10][1]
  6. (Medieval Latin) Habit.[8]
  • English habitude

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c 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
  10. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
  11. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften