opticus

Forms

opticus (feminine optica, neuter opticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀπτικός (optikós, “of or for sight”),^[1][2][3] which is from ὀπτός (optós, “visible”) with the adjective suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[1] Etymonline relates the adjective to ὤψ (ṓps, “eye”) and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *okʷ- (“to see”).^[3] The DMLBS labels the Latin word Late Latin, Wiktionary Medieval Latin.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated example in the DMLBS is in Adelard of Bath, who says the sight goes out through two hollow nerves, which the Greeks call optici, stretching from the brain to the eyes.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval medicine it was the word for the optic nerve: Alexander Neckam writes that light is sent through the optic nerves, and a medical writer explains the name from Greek optos, sight.^[2] Because the optic nerves were held to be hollow, some took the word itself to mean “hollow”: Bartholomaeus Anglicus and Roger Bacon gloss it so, and Bacon says that opticitas is the same as hollowness.^[2] Bacon also uses the neuter plural for optics, citing the fourth book of Ptolemy “on optics”.^[2]

English took optic in the late 14th century from Old French and directly from Medieval Latin.^[3]

Timeline

• 1095–1160 – Adelard of Bath speaks of the hollow nerves the Greeks call optic.^[2]
• 1177–1217 – Alexander Neckam writes of light sent through the optic nerves.^[2]
• 1240–1292 – Roger Bacon equates the word with “hollow” and uses the neuter plural for optics.^[2]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as optik.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin, anatomy) Of the eye or eyesight, optic; in nervus opticus, the optic nerve.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Hollow, as some medieval writers understood the word.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) In the neuter plural, as a noun: optics.^[2]

Related words

• English optic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com