lunaticus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɫuːˈnaː.tɪ.kʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [luˈnaː.ti.kus]^[1]

Forms

lūnāticus (feminine lūnātica, neuter lūnāticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lūna (“moon”) + -āticus.^[2][1] It renders Ancient Greek σεληνιακός (selēniakós) and Ancient Greek σεληνόπληκτος (selēnóplēktos, “moonstruck”).^[3][4] The OLD and Georges refer to Isidore of Seville's account of epilepsy.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL dates it from the Itala, the jurist Paulus and Lactantius.^[5] Köbler dates Lactantius about 250–317 AD.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Lactantius uses it of men living on the moon.^[3][7] Its main sense was moonstruck or epileptic, of a slave in the Digest, of the sick in the Vulgate of Matthew, and in Pseudo-Apuleius.^[2][3][7] In the Vulgate it is also a noun, a madman.^[7] A Pseudo-Augustinian text uses it of what lasts only a month, short-lived.^[7][8]

Medieval Latin used it of what relates to the moon, of mental disorder thought to follow its phases, of maniacs and of what is ephemeral.^[9][8] It survives in Sardinian and Corsican words for a sterile animal and in Old French lunage “epileptic”.^[5] English lunatic came from Old French or Late Latin in the late 13th century.^[10]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Itala uses it.^[5][6]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of moon-dwellers.^[3][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Matthew.^[3][6]
• late 13th century – English lunatic is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Living on the moon.^[3][1]
2. Moonstruck, epileptic, lunatic.^[2][1]
3. Lasting a month; short-lived.^[7][8]

Noun

1. A madman, lunatic.^[7][8]

Word family

• semilunaticus

Related words

• luna
• English lunatic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com