humilitas

Forms

humilitās f (genitive humilitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin humilis (“low, humble”) + -tās.^[2][3][1] De Vaan lists humilis among the derivatives of humus (“earth, ground”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *χomo- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰ-ōm (“earth”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Accius,^[4][5] who writes in a tragedy that no lowliness of rank ever weakens a good nature.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is physical lowness: lowness of stature, as Cicero's animals so low that they can easily reach their food on the ground, Caesar's low ships, and lowness of position, of the stars.^[2][6] Most often it is lowness of rank, a humble condition or insignificance, and degradation or humiliation, as in Caesar.^[2] Petronius uses it of the commonplace style of Lucilius, and Cicero of submissiveness, contrasting it unfavourably with courage and greatness of spirit.^[2] In Church Latin it becomes the virtue of humility, meekness,^[7][1][8] and Medieval Latin also uses it of a lowly, poor state of life and of oppression.^[9] English humility (early 14th century) comes from it through Old French.^[7]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of lowly rank.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of lowness of stature and of submissiveness.^[2][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of low ships and of humiliation.^[2][6][5]
• early 14th century – English humility comes from it through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lowness of stature or position.^[2][6]
2. Lowness of rank, humble condition, insignificance, lowliness.^[2][9][1]
3. Degradation, humiliation.^[2][8][1]
4. Commonplaceness of style.^[2]
5. Submissiveness;^[2][8][9][1] (Ecclesiastical Latin) humility, meekness, modesty.^[2][8][9][1]

Related words

• humilis
• humus
• English humility

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill