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mirifice

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word mirifice

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*sméi-ro-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mirus
Latin mirificus
Latin mirifice
Latin mire

Forms

mīrificē (adverb)[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin mīrificus (“wonderful”) + -ē.[1] mīrificus is a compound of mīrus (“wonderful”) and faciō (“to make”).[2] De Vaan traces mīrus to Proto-Italic *smeiro- and Proto-Indo-European *sméi-ro- (“laughter”), with the adjective probably back-formed from the older neuter ⟨mīrum⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL and Köbler record the adverb from Cato.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It means in an amazing manner or to an amazing degree, remarkably,[1] usually with verbs of feeling or speaking: Cicero has mirifice delectari, to be wonderfully delighted, mirifice dolere and mirifice laudare.[2][6] The TLL finds it often in Cicero's letters and, among the poets, only in the Atellan farces of Pomponius and in Catullus, who has someone setting out the charges against Vatinius mirifice, splendidly.[4] Pliny the Elder uses it of things that help remarkably.[6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, often in his letters, of being wonderfully delighted or pained.[2][4][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of a remedy that helps remarkably.[6][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Wonderfully, marvellously, in an amazing manner.[1][2][4]
  2. Remarkably, exceedingly, to an extraordinary degree.[1][2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry

“Mirifice.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/mirifice. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·