involuntarius

Forms

invŏluntārius (feminine invŏluntāria, neuter invŏluntārium); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin in-² + voluntārius (“voluntary”).^[3][4][5] Conte labels it Late Latin.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first record is Tertullian (c. 160–220).^[4] Lewis & Short and Georges cite Caelius Aurelianus, who speaks of an involuntary discharge of urine.^[1][6]

Semantic evolution

It meant done without will or intent, corresponding to Greek ἀκούσιος (akoúsios),^[3][7] and the adverb involuntarie appears in Boethius.^[1] Medieval writers applied it to actions in law and philosophy, to persons not acting willingly, to the reluctant and to those constrained in their will;^[7] Niermeyer glosses it “unwilling”.^[8] Thomas Aquinas uses it in his Summa.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Köbler's first record, in Tertullian.^[4]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus writes of an involuntary discharge of urine.^[1][6][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. involuntary, done without will or intent.^[1][3][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) Not acting willingly; unwilling, reluctant.^[7][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) Constrained in one's will.^[7]

Related words

• voluntarius

Usage notes

The TLL notes that it has been restored by conjecture for voluntarius in Hegesippus (4.9.4) and in Caelius Aurelianus' Chronic Diseases (1.4.66).^[3]

References

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