Etymologically
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latens

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɫa.tẽːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈlaː.tens][1]

Forms

latēns (genitive latentis, comparative latentior, superlative latentissimus); third-declension one-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the present participle from Latin lateō (“to lie hidden”).[2][3][4][5] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *latē-, a stative verb made from Proto-Indo-European *lh₂-to- (“hidden”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Lucretius, who writes that the body that can be seen is sick while we take pleasure in another, hidden part.[2]

Semantic evolution

It keeps the senses of the verb, above all "concealed, hidden":[2] Virgil has hidden rocks, Horace hidden shores, and Lucan calls the underworld the hidden world.[2] Pliny the Elder uses it of the left hand, which is kept out of sight, as the hand that wears rings.[2] From Cicero on it also means "not revealed, secret": a dark and hidden matter can be lit up by a single word, and Ovid speaks of words hidden in speech.[2] Scribonius Largus sets a hidden and obscure cause against a manifest one, and Quintilian speaks of a hidden reason that cannot be put into words.[2][5] The jurists have in latentī, "in secret".[2][5] Augustine forms the comparative latentior.[5] English borrowed the word in the mid-15th century as latent.[7]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a hidden part of the body.[2]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a hidden matter made clear.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of hidden rocks.[2][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of hidden words.[2]
  • c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus of a hidden cause.[2][4]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the comparative latentior.[5][4]
  • mid-15th century – Borrowed into English as latent, "concealed, secret".[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Concealed, hidden, out of sight.[2][3][5][1]
  2. Not revealed, secret, obscure;[2][5] in latentī, in secret.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com