indicativus

Forms

indicātīvus (feminine indicātīva, neuter indicātīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin indicō¹ (“to point out, show”) + -īvus,^[1][2] as a calque of Ancient Greek ὁριστική (horistikḗ), the Greek grammarians' name for the mood.^[1][2] The grammarian Pompeius explains the name as coming from the fact that “we indicate” with it.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL first cites the grammarian Sacerdos, who notes that the mood he calls prōnūntiātīvus some call indicātīvus or fīnītīvus.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It was a technical term of the Late Latin grammarians: modus indicātīvus, or indicātīvus alone, for the mood that states something absolutely.^[2][4][5] Diomedes, Donatus, Martianus Capella and Priscian use it.^[5][4]

Medieval writers also used it in its general sense, “pointing out, serving as a sign”, as in urine described as indicative of health.^[6][7][8] Through Old French indicatif it gave English indicative (mid-15th century).^[9]

Timeline

• 3rd century AD – Sacerdos records it as a name of the mood.^[2][3]
• 2nd half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes uses it.^[5][4][3]
• 6th century AD – Priscian uses it.^[5][4][3]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it, through French, as indicative.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (grammar) indicative; as a noun (masculine, with modus understood), the indicative mood.^[4][5][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Pointing out, serving as a sign of something.^[6][7][8]

Related words

• English indicative

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com