Etymologically
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indirectus

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Forms

indīrēctus (feminine indīrēcta, neuter indīrēctum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + dīrēctus (“straight”), the negative prefix with the adjective “straight”.[3][2][4] Köbler refers dīrēctus further to dis- and regō (“to guide, direct”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first as the adverb indīrēctō, “by a slanting course”, in a poem of Venantius Fortunatus.[3][2] Gaffiot cites it from Quintilian,[1] but Lewis & Short call that a false reading for inde recta,[5] and the TLL also sets aside a reading in Gaius as falsely transmitted.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin it was a common word.[6][7] Literally it meant not straight: winding, curved or crooked, of walls, roads and rivers, and also uneven or hilly ground.[6][7][8] Figuratively it meant indirect or devious,[7][8] perverse or unreasonable,[6] and in legal use unlawful.[9] In Hungarian and Polish documents it also meant done through someone else, indirect, and the phrase per indīrēctum meant “in a roundabout way, indirectly”.[9][8] British sources use it for what has not been set right, and as a noun for the reverse side of a quilt.[7] English indirect, from the late 14th century, comes from Old French or directly from this Latin word.[4]

Timeline

  • 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus uses the adverb indīrēctō.[3][2]
  • before 1172 – Eberhard of Bamberg uses it.[2]
  • c. 1210 – A letter speaks of a taunt that is “not oblique, not indirect, but open”.[7]
  • 1251 – A Polish charter uses it of the winding course of a stream.[8]
  • 1285 – An English account uses it as a noun for the reverse side of a fabric.[7]
  • 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it.[2]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as indirect.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Not straight; winding, circuitous, crooked.[6][7][8]
  2. Uneven, hilly.[6]
  3. (figurative) Indirect, not straightforward, devious.[7][8][10]
  4. Perverse, unreasonable;[6][9] (law) unlawful.[6][9]
  5. Done through another, indirect;[9][8] per indīrēctum, indirectly.[9][8]
  6. Not set right, uncorrected.[7]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) The reverse side of a quilt or similar fabric.[7]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A curve, curvature.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 c d e f g h Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  9. ^ a b c d e f Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
  10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson