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hostilitas

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word hostilitas

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 160–220 Tertullian More words from the 2nd century
Ultimate origin
Latin hostīlis
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin hostis
Latin hostīlis
Latin hostīlitās
English hostility
From the same root
Latin hosticus ← hostis
Latin hostiliter ← hostīlis

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [hɔsˈtiː.lɪ.taːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [osˈtiː.li.tas][1]

Forms

hostīlitās f (genitive hostīlitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin hostīlis + -tās,[1][2] on the model of words such as cīvīlitās.[2] The adjective comes from hostis (“enemy”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first examples are in Tertullian (c. 160–220 AD),[2][3] where it means a hostile spirit, enmity: in the Apology it is set against piety, religion and good faith.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it named enmity in general, between peoples or persons;[2][5] Cassiodorus used it of the destructive force of a thing, the eruptions of Vesuvius.[2] Poets avoided it, Paulinus of Pella being the one exception the TLL records.[2]

In Medieval Latin it took on concrete military senses: the enemy troops themselves, a hostile raid, a military expedition, war, and the feudal host or the military service owed to it.[6][7][8] The MLW also records the sense of hardship or affliction.[7]

English took it over in the 15th century, from French or directly from Late Latin.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for enmity.[2][3]
  • c. 400 AD – Servius uses it in his commentary on the Aeneid.[2][3]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus writes of the hostilitas of Mount Vesuvius.[2][5][3]
  • after 673 – Julian of Toledo uses it for plundering and warfare.[7][3]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as hostilite.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Enmity, hostility, a hostile spirit.[2][5][9]
  2. Destructive force, of a thing.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The enemy, enemy troops.[6][8]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A hostile incursion, attack.[6][7][8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A military expedition; war.[6][7][8]
  6. (Medieval Latin) The feudal host; military service, or a tax paid in place of it.[6][7][8]
  7. (Medieval Latin) Hardship, affliction.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Hostilitas.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/hostilitas. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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