hostilis

Forms

hostīlis (neuter hostīle, adverb hostīliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin hostis (“enemy”) + -īlis, like cīvīlis from cīvis.^[2][3][1] De Vaan traces hostis to Proto-Italic *χosti- and Proto-Indo-European *gʰosti- (“stranger, guest”), cognate with Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts, “guest”) and Old Church Slavonic гость (gostĭ, “guest”); the root of the noun is disputed.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who has īnsidiīs hostīlibus, “by an enemy's ambush” (Pseudolus).^[4][2] Ennius has a death ordered “by an enemy hand” (hostīlī manū).^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means belonging to an enemy (an enemy land, enemy ships) or done by an enemy, and in augury the part of a victim's entrails that concerned the enemy.^[2][5] It then describes behaviour typical of an enemy, as in Cicero's hostīlī odiō et crūdēlitāte, “with an enemy's hatred and cruelty”, and an attitude of hostility, as Ovid's eyes burning with hostility.^[2]

In medieval Latin an expedītiō hostīlis or iter hostīle was a military expedition (the host), and hostīlia were the dues owed for it.^[6] English hostile dates from the late 15th century.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of an enemy ambush.^[2][8]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius of an enemy hand.^[2][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of an enemy's hatred.^[2][8]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of hostile eyes.^[2][8]
• late 15th century – English hostile.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to an enemy, the enemy's; done by an enemy.^[2][5]
2. Characteristic of an enemy.^[2]
3. hostile in attitude, unfriendly.^[2][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) Of a military expedition.^[6]

Word family

• hostīlitās

Related words

• hostis
• hosticus
• English hostile

Usage notes

Döderlein explains that hostis is the enemy in war, as opposed to inimīcus, a personal enemy, and adversārius, any opponent.^[9]

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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper