indefinitus

Forms

indēfīnītus (feminine indēfīnīta, neuter indēfīnītum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in-² (“not”) + dēfīnītus (“definite”).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aulus Gellius (c. 165 AD) is the first certain source: a discussion becomes endless, he says, unless it is limited by simple questions and answers.^[2][3][4] The TLL notes that a fragment of Cicero has it only by an editor's conjecture.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Gellius also uses it in grammar for the infinitive mood, in Greek ἀπαρέμφατος (aparémphatos).^[2] Hilary of Poitiers, Augustine and Gregory the Great use it of what is indeterminate, uncertain or without limit, such as an indefinite number.^[3] In medieval Latin it rendered ἀόριστος (aóristos) and was used in grammar and philosophy of what is not limited or determined;^[5] it is sometimes confused with infinitus.^[5]

English indefinite (1520s) comes from it.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses it of an endless discussion and of the infinitive mood.^[2][4]
• c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers uses it of an indefinite number.^[3][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it.^[3][4]
• 1520s – English borrows it as indefinite.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unlimited, endless; indefinite, indeterminate.^[2][3][7]
2. (grammar) Belonging to the infinitive mood.^[2]

Related words

• English indefinite

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson