Etymologically
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lunaticus

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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

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