novitas

Forms

novitās f (genitive novitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from novus (“new”) with the suffix -tās;^[2][1] Wiktionary adds that it may be as old as Proto-Indo-European *néwoteh₂ts.^[1] De Vaan derives ⟨novus⟩ from Proto-Italic *nowo- and *néwos (“new, young”), cognate with Sanskrit नव (náva-, “new”), Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “new, young”) and Hittite nēwa- (“new”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest examples in the OLD are Varro, “long custom does not stand in the way of novelty”, the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Lucretius;^[2][4] Köbler gives Cicero.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is newness or novelty and an innovation, as Livy's senators watching the games apart, which caused talk “as every novelty does”.^[2][5] It is also unfamiliarity, the strangeness of something unheard of, as Cicero's novel manner of speaking, and the unexpected, as Caesar's “no one is so brave that he is not disturbed by the unexpected”.^[2][5]

It is the state of replacing what came before, a new development or friendship, and novitās rērum a revolution;^[2] Lucretius uses it of the freshness of the young world.^[2] In politics it is the status of a novus homo, the first of his family to hold high office, as in Cicero and Sallust.^[2][5] Church Latin also gives “conversion” and “new condition”, and medieval Latin innovation or change.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of novelty.^[2][4]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the young world.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a novus homo.^[2][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of the unexpected.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Newness, novelty; an innovation.^[2][5][1]
2. Unfamiliarity, strangeness; a strange occurrence.^[2][1]
3. Unexpectedness, surprise.^[2]
4. Change;^[2][7] novitās rērum, a revolution.^[2][7]
5. Freshness; the time when something is new.^[2]
6. The status of a novus homo, newness of rank.^[2][5][1]
7. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Conversion, a new condition.^[6]

Related words

• novus
• novō
• novellus
• English novelty

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill