incapacitas

Forms

incapācitās f (genitive incapācitātis); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin incapāx (“unable to hold, incapable”) + -tās.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Filastrius of Brescia uses it in his book of heresies: the Son of God put on flesh because of our incapacity to see him.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Rufinus, translating Origen, speaks of the incapacity of the hearers.^[3][1][4] In British medieval Latin it came to mean a want of legal ability or qualification, for instance of clergy to hold temporal property, and also a want of understanding;^[5] a Hungarian charter uses it for the unsuitability of a time,^[6] and Czech sources for slowness of mind.^[7] English took incapacity in the 1610s from French, which goes back to the Medieval Latin word.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 367–400 AD – Filastrius uses it of human incapacity to see God.^[3][2]
• c. 345–411/412 AD – Rufinus uses it in his translation of Origen.^[3][1][2]
• 1412 – An English church council document uses it of the clergy's legal incapacity.^[5]
• 1438 – A Hungarian charter uses it for the unsuitability of a time.^[6]
• 1610s – English borrows incapacity from French.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Inability, incapacity.^[3][9][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Lack of legal ability or qualification.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin) Want of comprehension.^[5][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Unsuitability.^[6]

Related words

• capax
• English incapacity

References

1. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d 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
6. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
7. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson