Etymologically
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invalidus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪnˈwa.lɪ.dʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iɱˈvaː.li.dus][1]

Forms

invalidus (feminine invalida, neuter invalidum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from the negative prefix in- (“not”) and validus (“strong”).[2][3] The adjective belongs with valeō (“to be strong”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *wal-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂ulh₁-eh₁- (“to be strong”), cognate with Old Irish flaith (“rule, sovereignty”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest quotation is Virgil, of a foal still weak and trembling;[2] Köbler gives Livy.[3] Lewis and Short note that it is not in Cicero or Caesar.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is weak, feeble or infirm, of people and animals, as Livy's Camillus, too weak with age for bodily duties, and of physical powers, as Ovid's weak strength;[2][5] Tacitus adds a moral weakness, of women by nature weak.[2][5] Of things it is lacking strength, as Lucan's weak ship and feeble flames, and in war weak in numbers, as Livy's not weak garrison.[2] Figuratively it is powerless or ineffectual.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “weak, invalid”,[6] and in medieval Latin it is legally void or invalid.[7] English invalid, “infirm”, is from it in the 1640s.[8]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a weak foal.[2][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a man weak with age and of a garrison not weak.[2][5][3]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of moral weakness.[2][3]
  • 1640s – English invalid.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Weak, feeble, infirm.[2][5][1][6]
  2. Of things, lacking strength; of fire, dim.[2]
  3. Weak in military strength.[2]
  4. Powerless, ineffectual.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Void, invalid.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com