incredibilitas

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɪŋ.kreː.dɪˈbɪ.lɪ.taːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iŋ.kre.diˈbiː.li.tas]^[1]

Forms

incrēdibilitās f (genitive incrēdibilitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin incrēdibilis (“incredible”) + -tās, from in- and crēdibilis (“credible”), from crēdō (“to believe”).^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨crēdō⟩ to Proto-Italic *krezde/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱred-dʰeh₁- (“to place the heart, believe”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short call it post-classical, citing the Digest, where Köbler names Ulpian.^[4][5] Köbler dates Ulpian before 223 AD.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the quality of being beyond belief, incredibility, as in the Digest, and in the pseudo-Apuleian Asclepius incredulity, disbelief.^[2][4][6]

British Medieval Latin used it for disbelief, doubt.^[7]

Timeline

• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Incredibility.^[2]
2. Incredulity, disbelief.^[4][6]

Related words

• incrēdibilis
• crēdibilis
• crēdō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ 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