Etymologically
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iconicus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [iːˈkɔ.nɪ.kʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iˈkɔː.ni.kus][1]

Forms

īconicus (feminine īconica, neuter īconicum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek εἰκονικός (eikonikós, “like a portrait”),[2][1][3][4] from εἰκών (eikṓn, “image, likeness, portrait”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder is its first author: he speaks of statues dedicated that were modelled on the likeness of the persons' own limbs, quās īconicās vocant, “which they call iconic”.[2][6][4]

Semantic evolution

Pliny also says that painting had become so perfect that a painter is said to have shown the generals in a battle as true likenesses,[2][6] and Lewis & Short take this to mean life-size.[7] Suetonius has a golden statue of Caligula in his temple, made in his likeness;[6][2] Georges explains the word as a portrait likeness at life size.[8]

In Late Latin the feminine was used as a noun for an image: a gloss explains it as the image of the emperor,[6] and Gregory of Tours tells of a Jew who stole an image of Christ and speaks of images of the apostles.[6] A Polish dictionary records it in the 16th century for a faithful portrait, painted or carved.[9] English iconic, “of a portrait”, was formed in the 1650s from the Late Latin word.[5]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of statues made as exact likenesses.[2][4]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a golden statue of Caligula.[6][2][4]
  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses the feminine noun for an image of Christ.[6][4]
  • 1650s – English iconic is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of a statue or painting) Made as an exact likeness, true to life; life-size.[2][7][8][10]
  2. Of an image.[1][11]

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) īconica (feminine): an image, portrait, icon.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  10. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Simpson, D. P. (1959), Cassell's New Latin Dictionary, London: Cassell