haeresis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈhae̯.rɛ.sɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛː.re.s̬is]^[1]

Forms

haeresis f (genitive haeresis or haereseōs or haeresios); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek αἵρεσις (haíresis, “choice; sect”).^[2][1][3] Tertullian and Jerome explain the name from the Greek for “choice”, and Isidore of Seville says it is so called because each person chooses what seems best to him.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro speaks of a new school and of the Menippean school.^[6] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant a philosophical school or sect, the pure Latin being secta: Cicero says that Cato belongs to the school that seeks no ornament of speech, and Vitruvius speaks of following Pythagoras' school.^[2][8][6] Cicero also jokes about Vestorius' trade as his haeresis.^[8]

From Tertullian on it was heretical religious doctrine, heresy, as Lactantius' many sects and heresies and Sidonius' Arian heresy.^[8][9] Isidore of Seville applies it both to the philosophical schools and to those who left the Church for a perverse dogma.^[5] The Theodosian Code uses it of a calling or trade.^[8] Medieval Latin used it of heretical doctrine and sects, and of a fine for heresy.^[10] English heresy came from Old French about 1200.^[11]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a school of thought.^[6][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a philosophical school.^[8][7]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of heresy.^[8][7]
• c. 1200 – English heresy is recorded.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A philosophical school, sect.^[2][1]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) heresy; a heretical sect.^[8][1]
3. (Late Latin) A calling, trade.^[8]

Word family

• haereticus
• haereseus

Related words

• secta
• English heresy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com