impersonalis

Forms

impersōnālis (neuter impersōnāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in-² (“not”) + persōnālis (“personal”).^[2][1][3] The TLL takes it to be formed after a Greek grammatical term.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first a term of the grammarians: Charisius uses it of impersonal verbs.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The grammarians used it of verb forms that do not mark a definite person, such as legitur, “it is read”.^[2][7] Diomedes speaks of an impersonal meaning and an impersonal mood of verbs.^[5] The adverb impersonaliter meant “without naming the person” in the Digest and “impersonally” in Macrobius.^[4][8]

Medieval grammar kept the term, of verbs, of the impersonal infinitive and of constructions,^[9][7] and English took it over as a grammatical term.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 362 AD – Charisius uses it of impersonal verbs.^[4][5][6]
• 2nd half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes writes of the impersonal mood of verbs.^[5][6]
• 533 AD – The Digest has the adverb impersonaliter, “without naming the person”.^[4][8][6]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as a grammatical term.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (grammar) Impersonal, of a verb form that marks no definite person.^[4][2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) Not referring to a person.^[7]

Related words

• persōna
• English impersonal

Usage notes

It is also spelled inpersonalis.^[4][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ 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