palpabilis

Forms

palpābilis (neuter palpābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin palpō (“to touch softly, stroke”) + -bilis.^[1][2][3] The verb itself has no etymology: de Vaan finds a Proto-Indo-European origin hard to see for a sequence ⟨palp-⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in the Itala, the Old Latin Bible, and in the Latin Irenaeus, and otherwise only in Church writers;^[2] the Itala speaks of tenebrae palpabiles, a darkness so thick it could be felt.^[5] Köbler dates the Itala after 220 AD.^[6] In it the word answers Greek ψηλαφητός (psēlaphētós).^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means that can be touched or handled, and Christian writers often paired it with visibilis: Jerome and Orosius write of a palpable darkness.^[2][7][8] John Cassian used it actively for an experience that lets one touch something with one's own hands, that is, a manifest proof.^[5]

Medieval writers used it of the body, the human body and the body of Christ, as tangible: Bede and Alcuin among them.^[9] It was also used figuratively for what is concrete.^[10] Thomas Aquinas speaks of a corpus palpabile.^[11] English took palpable from the Late Latin word in the late 14th century.^[12]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Itala speaks of a palpable darkness.^[5][6]
• c. 360–c. 435 AD – John Cassian uses it of a proof one can touch.^[5][6]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of the darkness of Egypt.^[8][6]
• 417/418 AD – Orosius writes of darkness palpable for its thickness.^[7][6]
• late 14th century – English borrows palpable.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) That can be touched or felt, palpable, tangible.^[7][2][8]
2. (Late Latin) (active) That lets one touch, manifest.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin) Concrete.^[10]

Related words

• palpo
• English palpable

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com