introductorius

Forms

intrōductōrius (feminine intrōductōria, neuter intrōductōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin intrōductor + -ius.^[1][2] Georges refers it to intrōdūcō (“to lead in”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cassiodorus (c. 485–c. 580) speaks of introductory books.^[4][3][5] The TLL also cites it from the preface of the medical questions ascribed to Soranus, where it stands beside the synonym prooemialis, and in Boethius' commentary on Porphyry.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin it meant introducing or initiating,^[6] and the neuter was used as a noun for an introduction.^[7] British writers used it of anything preliminary, as Neckam of a falcon's preliminary descents.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus writes of introductory books.^[4][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. introductory, preliminary.^[4][3][8]
2. (Medieval Latin) Introducing, initiating.^[6][7]
3. (Medieval Latin, neuter as noun) An introduction.^[7]

Related words

• introduco

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ 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