miraculosus

Forms

mīrāculōsus (feminine mīrāculōsa, neuter mīrāculōsum); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin mīrāculum + -ōsus.^[3] The noun mīrāculum (“wonder, marvel”) comes from mīror (“to wonder at”),^[1] which belongs with mīrus (“wonderful”); de Vaan traces that to Proto-Italic *smeiro- and Proto-Indo-European *sméi-ro- (“laughter”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is the Summa theologiae of Thomas Aquinas (1265–1273), where it means miraculous.^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

In British Medieval Latin it meant remarkable or wondrous, and also miraculous as opposed to natural: John Blund says the resurrection of the dead will be not natural but miraculosa.^[6] It could also describe something that works wonders.^[6] Thomas Aquinas speaks of a miraculous act, conception, conversion and change.^[5]

It was used in the Medieval Latin of Hungary, Bohemia and Poland,^[2][7][8] as in Simon of Kéza's miraculosum praelium, the wondrous battle that King Ladislaus fought against the Cumans.^[2]

Timeline

• 1265–1273 – Thomas Aquinas uses it in the Summa theologiae.^[1]
• 1454 – A Polish record speaks of a cure made public as miraculous.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Remarkable, marvellous, wondrous.^[6][2][8]
2. (Medieval Latin) Miraculous, supernatural.^[9][6][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) That works wonders.^[6][7]

Related words

• miraculum
• mirus
• English miraculous

References

1. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
6. ^ a b c d e 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
7. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
8. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill