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mirificus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word mirificus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
190–159 BC, Terence
Ultimate origin
Latin (mīrus,faciō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mirus
Latin mirificus
Latin mirifice
Latin mire

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [miːˈrɪ.fɪ.kʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [miˈriː.fi.kus][1]

Forms

mīrificus (feminine mīrifica, neuter mīrificum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mīrus (“wonderful”) + -ficus (“making”).[2][3][1][4] De Vaan traces mīrus to Proto-Italic *smeiro- and Proto-Indo-European *sméi-ro- (“laughter”), with Vine's suggestion that the neuter ⟨mīrum⟩ is the oldest form.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Terence,[4][5] whose Phormio has the superlative, "a most wonderful deed".[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It means causing wonder or admiration, often simply wonderfully good or remarkably great:[2] of things in Accius and in Cicero, who exclaims at a wonderful opportunity and mentions wonderful thanks.[2] Of persons Cicero has o mīrificum Dolabellam meum!, "what a marvel my Dolabella is!", and Gellius a man wonderful in learning.[2][6] Besides Terence's mīrificissimus, Augustine has the superlative mīrificentissimus.[3] In Church Latin it means wonderful or marvellous.[7]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence, in the superlative.[2][4][5]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius.[2]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of opportunities and of people.[2][6]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine has mīrificentissimus.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Causing wonder, wonderful, marvellous, extraordinary; wonderfully good.[2][6][1][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Mirificus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/mirificus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·