invectivus

Forms

invectīvus (feminine invectīva, neuter invectīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin invectus + -īvus.^[1] The TLL and Georges derive it from invehor (“to inveigh against”), the passive of the verb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ammianus Marcellinus, around 390, first has it, of a sharp and aggressive speech: oratio acer et invectiva.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The TLL gives its basic sense as suited to attacking an opponent, whence abusive or accusing, of speeches, writings and rhetorical topics;^[2] Fortunatianus speaks of loci invectivi.^[3] Ammianus also uses the neuter plural for invectives against the emperor,^[4] and the grammarians Diomedes and Priscian call Cicero's speeches against Catiline invectīvae (understood: ōrātiōnēs).^[6][3][7]

Medieval writers used it of reproachful letters and speeches, and the feminine invectīva as a noun for an invective or slander;^[8][9][10] the DMLBS also records a sense “that conveys”.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus calls a speech invectiva.^[4][5]
• second half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes calls Cicero's speeches against Catiline invectivae.^[6][5]
• 6th century AD – Priscian does the same.^[3][7][5]
• c. 1155 – Peter of Blois writes of having received very reproachful letters calmly.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. abusive, reproachful, attacking an opponent; of speeches and writings.^[4][2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) That conveys.^[10]

Noun

1. (neuter plural) Invectives, abusive remarks.^[4]
2. (feminine) An invective, an abusive speech; in the plural, Cicero's speeches against Catiline.^[3][6][8]

Related words

• inveho

Usage notes

The manuscripts of Publilius Syrus (62) have invectibe, which the metre does not allow;^[2] W. Meyer conjectured maledicae.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b c d 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