offensivus

Forms

offēnsīvus (feminine offēnsīva, neuter offēnsīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin offendō (“to strike against, offend”) + -īvus,^[1][2][3] formed on the verb's participle stem ⟨offēns-⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first dated quotation in the DMLBS, from 1319, calls a statement “rightly offensive to pious ears”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The British medieval sources use it of what strikes against an obstacle, in natural philosophy; of weapons for attack, arma offensiva as against arma defensiva; of what offends or insults, with a genitive or a dative; and once of what is unpleasant, set against what pleases.^[2] Köbler dates it to about 1357.^[3]

English offensive (1540s) comes from French and directly from this Medieval Latin word.^[4]

Timeline

• 1319 – A treatise calls a statement offensive to pious ears.^[2]
• 1322 – Arma … sive defensiva sive offensiva: weapons for defence and for attack.^[2]
• c. 1358 – Used of subject matter that offends a university.^[2]
• 1382 – Used with a dative, of words offensive to the hearers' ears.^[2]
• 1540s – English takes it as offensive.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) striking or hitting against something.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Used for assault or attack: arma offensiva, offensive weapons.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) offensive, harmful or insulting.^[2][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) unpleasant.^[2][1]

Related words

• English offensive

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com