mortalitas

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [mɔrˈtaː.lɪ.taːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [morˈtaː.li.tas]^[1]

Forms

mortālitās f (genitive mortālitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from mortālis “mortal” with the suffix -tās; ⟨mortālis⟩ is from mors “death”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨morior⟩ “to die” to Proto-Indo-European *mr̥-yé- (“to die”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Cicero, whom he dates 81–43 BC, and the OLD's first citations are from Cicero.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It was the condition of being mortal, mortal nature, as in Cicero, and mortālitātem explēre was to die; and death as the natural end of life, as in Seneca.^[2][6] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it was a pestilence, high mortality, a slaughter, and the right to receive bequests, and Köbler records mortālitās sacra, the plague.^[8][5] English mortality (mid-14th century, “being subject to death”) came through Old French and directly from Latin.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of death.^[2][5]
• mid-14th century – English mortality is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Mortality, mortal nature.^[2]
2. Death.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A pestilence; a slaughter.^[8]

Related words

• mortālis
• mors
• immortālitās
• English mortality

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill