Etymologically
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meticulosus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [mɛ.tɪ.kʊˈɫoː.sʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [me.ti.kuˈlɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

meticulōsus (feminine meticulōsa, neuter meticulōsum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from metus “fear” with the suffix -culōsus, taken from perīculōsus “dangerous”.[1] The OLD lists it under the older form metūculōsus.[2][3] Etymonline calls metus of unknown origin.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, in the Amphitryon, says nobody is as fearful as this man, and in the Mostellaria asks whether one knows how frightful a thing it is to go before a judge.[5][3] Köbler dates Plautus about 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant full of fear, both fearful or timid and frightful or terrible, and Lewis & Short call it ante- and post-classical.[5][7] After Plautus it is found in the jurist Ulpian of a timid man, in Lactantius, and in Apuleius of the timid hare.[3][5]

Medieval British sources used it of what is timorous or terrified, as a fearful hesitation in William of Malmesbury, and as a noun for a frightened man.[8] English meticulous is recorded in the 1530s in the sense “fearful, timid”.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in both senses.[5][6]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of a timid man.[3][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of the hare.[5][6]
  • 1530s – English meticulous is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. fearful, timid.[5][1]
  2. Frightful, terrible.[5][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ 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