illac

Forms

illāc (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin illā (“by that way”) + -ce, the adverb illā with the particle ⟨-ce⟩;^[2][3] Wiktionary explains it from the ablative of illic¹ (“that one”) with via (“way”) understood.^[1] De Vaan lists it, from Plautus on, among the adverbs formed from ille (“that”), the pronoun that replaced older ⟨olle⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the TLL record it first in Plautus,^[4][5] who has angiporto illac per hortum circuit, “that way, through the alley and the garden, he went round”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means by that way, along that side, in that direction.^[2][7] Paired with hac it means this way and that: Terence has hac illac circumcursa, and Plautus hac iter faciundumst, nam illac lumbifragiumst, “we must go this way, for that way there's a broken back”.^[6][5] It can also mean simply there, and figuratively Cicero writes that all the bad citizens illac facere, are on that side, Caesar's.^[5][3] Tertullian uses sive hac sive illac, in one way or the other.^[7][5] The TLL finds it from Plautus to Augustine, apparently not later, and notes that Gregory of Tours lacks it.^[5] Medieval British writers use it again for by that way and in hac illac, this way and that.^[8] It is the source of Italian là, French là and Spanish allá.^[5][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a way round through a garden.^[5][9]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses hac illac, this way and that.^[6][9]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses illac facere of taking Caesar's side.^[5][9]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses sive hac sive illac, in either way.^[5][9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. By that way, on that side, in that direction.^[2][6]
2. hac illac, hac atque illac: this way and that, here and there.^[2][6][3]
3. There, in that place.^[5][10]
4. (figurative) On that side;^[3][7] illac facere, to belong to that party.^[3][7]
5. In that manner;^[5][7] sive hac sive illac, in one way or the other.^[5][7]

Related words

• ille
• illā
• illīc²
• illūc
• hac

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson