Etymologically
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idoneus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪˈdoː.ne.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iˈdɔː.ne.us][1]

Forms

idōneus (feminine idōnea, neuter idōneum, comparative magis idōneus, superlative maximē idōneus, adverb idōneē); first/second-declension adjective[1] The jurists in the Digest have the comparatives idōneior and idōnior.[2]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[3][2][4][5] De Vaan notes that it could be an adjective in ⟨-neus⟩ from an adverb ⟨*idō⟩ “there” or a stem ⟨*ido-⟩, or one in ⟨-eus⟩ from ⟨*idōn⟩, but that neither leads to a likely etymology.[3] Wiktionary reports Brugmann's derivation from an unattested adverb ⟨*idō⟩, as ultrōneus is from ultrō and extrāneus from extrā.[1] Lewis & Short linked it with a Sanskrit root “to kindle”, “bright, conspicuous”.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.[3][5] Terence has nequeō … initium ūllum invenīre idōneum unde exōrdiar, “I can't find any suitable point to start from”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Idōneus is “having the right qualities, suitable, fit, adequate”, of persons and things.[2][6] In law it means “solvent, able to meet one's obligations”, of a debtor or a guarantor.[2] Döderlein says it denotes a passive fitness, made fit by qualities or circumstances, and aptus an active one.[7]

Church Latin glosses it “suitable, sufficient, proper”.[8] Medieval Latin uses it of an accused man cleared of a charge, of a trustworthy witness, and of a person able to go to law.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[3][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: initium … idōneum.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. suitable, fit, proper, apt.[2][6][1][8]
  2. Adequate, sufficient.[2][1][8]
  3. (law) Solvent, able to pay.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Cleared, innocent; trustworthy (of a witness).[9]

Word family

  • idōneitās
  • peridōneus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill