orthodoxia

Forms

orthodoxia f (genitive orthodoxiae); first declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀρθοδοξία (orthodoxía, “right belief”),^[2][3][4] the abstract noun of ὀρθόδοξος (orthódoxos, “having the right opinion”).^[4] Köbler connects its parts with ὀρθός (orthós, “right, straight”) and δοκέω (dokéō, “to think, believe”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it mostly in the Latin versions of the acts of the church councils, meaning the true catholic faith of Christians.^[1] Facundus, of the mid 6th century AD,^[2] quoting Theodoret, calls certain teachings foreign to the church's orthodoxy.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Latin kept it for orthodoxy,^[5][3] and Du Cange's sources set it, as sound doctrine about the faith, against cacodoxia, wrong belief.^[6] In British sources Matthew Paris speaks of churches that stood unmoved in the ancient orthodoxy.^[3] English took orthodoxy in the 1620s from French and directly from Late Latin.^[4]

Timeline

• mid 6th century AD – Facundus, quoting Theodoret, uses it of the church's true faith.^[1][2]
• after 553 AD – Rusticus uses it in his version of the acts of the councils.^[1][2]
• 1620s – English borrows it as orthodoxy, partly through French.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The true catholic faith, orthodoxy.^[1][5][3]
2. Sound doctrine, right opinion about the faith, opposed to cacodoxia.^[6]

Related words

• orthodoxus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d 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
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre