opificium

Forms

opificium n (genitive opificiī or opificī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin opifex (“craftsman”) + -ium, like officium.^[2][3][1] ⟨opifex⟩ is from opus (“work”) and faciō (“to make”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Varro's Rēs rūsticae, of the work of bees.^[4][6][7] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the performance of constructive work, a working, a work, and Lewis & Short call it ante- and post-classical.^[2][6]

Medieval Latin used it for a craft, a piece of work, a tool.^[8] British Medieval Latin used it for work, skill, craftsmanship of people and of nature.^[9]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The doing of a work, constructive work.^[2][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) A craft; craftsmanship; a tool.^[8][9]

Related words

• opifex
• opus
• officium

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b 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