intuitio

Forms

intuitiō f (genitive intuitiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin intueor + -tiō, a noun of action formed on the past participle stem of the verb.^[1][2][3] Conte labels it Late Latin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chalcidius, around 300 AD, uses it in his commentary on the Timaeus for the image that appears on the surface of a mirror, rendering Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis).^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The TLL treats it as a synonym of intuitus, the faculty or act of looking;^[3] Rufinus, translating Origen, uses it of the sight of the eyes, and the Latin Irenaeus of the sight of the eyes or the mind.^[4][3]

Medieval writers used it for seeing, for inspection or scrutiny, and for knowing or understanding,^[8] and also for regard or consideration and for an aim or purpose.^[9][10] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means intuition,^[11] and English took it over in the mid-15th century, first as a theological term for direct spiritual insight.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses it of a reflected image.^[5][7]
• c. 345–411/412 AD – Rufinus uses it of the sight of the eyes.^[3][4][7]
• c. 798 – Alcuin uses it of the bodily act of seeing.^[8]
• mid-15th century – Borrowed into English as intuition.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The image reflected in a mirror.^[5][6][4]
2. Sight, the act or faculty of looking, with the eyes or the mind.^[3][4][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) inspection, examination, scrutiny.^[8][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) Regard, consideration; aim, purpose.^[9]
5. (Medieval Latin) Knowing, understanding, intuition.^[8][11]

Related words

• intuitus
• intuitivus
• English intuition

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e 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
9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson