numerabilis
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Pronunciation
Forms
numerābilis (neuter numerābile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]
Etymology
It is from numerō “to count” with the suffix -bilis, from numerus “number”.[2][1][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Köbler's first source is Horace, whom he dates 65–8 BC, and Horace uses it of a people few enough to count.[4][5]
Semantic evolution
It meant possible or easy to count, and so few in number, as in Horace, and Ovid uses it of a pebble.[2][5][6] Lewis & Short call it poetic and very rare.[6]
British Medieval Latin used it for what can be numbered or measured.[7] It gave English numerable in the 1570s, and its negative innumerābilis is the source of English innumerable.[3]
Timeline
- 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.[4][5]
- 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it.[6][4]
- 1570s – English numerable is recorded.[3]
Meanings
Adjective
Word family
- innumerābilis
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ 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