Etymologically
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magnitudo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [maŋ.nɪˈtuː.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [maɲ.ɲiˈtuː.do][1]

Forms

magnitūdō f (genitive magnitūdinis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin magnus + -tūdō, from the adjective for “great”.[2][3][1][4] De Vaan derives magnus from Proto-Italic *magno-, from Proto-Indo-European *m̥ǵ-no- (“great”).[5] The root is *meǵh₂- (“great”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,[5] who wrote that the star of Venus changed its colōrem, magnitūdinem, figūram, cursum, “colour, size, shape and course”.[2] Köbler cites it from Cicero.[6]

Semantic evolution

Magnitūdō is size or extent in general, then a vast extent (of seas, regions), a great amount (of money, profit), and the strength of physical forces such as storms.[2][7] Of immaterial things it is greatness of scale or importance, and of persons and peoples power, high rank, and greatness of mind or character.[2][7] Festus notes that mōlēs is often used for it.[3]

Church Latin glosses it “greatness, power, majesty, size”.[8] In Medieval Latin it is a title of honour, “benevolence” and a sovereign's prerogative.[9] English magnitude meant “pre-eminence” about 1400 and “greatness of size” in the early 15th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro on the changing size of the star of Venus.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: maria, montēs, regiōnum magnitūdinēs, “seas, mountains, vast stretches of country”.[2][6]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust speaks of the magnitūdō populī Rōmānī, “the might of the Roman people”.[2][6]
  • c. 1400 – English magnitude.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. size, extent, magnitude.[2][7][1][8]
  2. A vast extent.[2]
  3. Great quantity, volume.[2][1]
  4. Intensity, strength (of storms and other forces).[2]
  5. Greatness of scale; importance, gravity.[2]
  6. Power, might; high rank, dignity.[2][8]
  7. Greatness (of mind or character).[2][7]
  8. (Medieval Latin) A title of honour; benevolence; prerogative.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill