liquiditas

Forms

liquiditās f (genitive liquiditātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin liquidus (“liquid, clear”) + -tās.^[2][1] ⟨liquidus⟩ is from liqueō (“to be liquid”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *(w)likʷ-ē- (“to be liquid”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its source is Apuleius' De mundo, liquiditās āeris “the clearness of the air”.^[4][5][6] Köbler dates Apuleius c. 125–175 AD.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The OLD renders it fluidity, Lewis & Short liquidity and Gaffiot purity of the air.^[2][4][5]

British Medieval Latin used it for liquidity, fluidity.^[7] It survives in French liquidité and Italian liquidità, and German Liquidität (in finance) is from it.^[1][6]

Timeline

• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Fluidity, liquidity; clearness.^[2][4][5]

Related words

• liquidus
• liqueō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ 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