paradigma

Forms

paradīgma n (genitive paradīgmatis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek παράδειγμα (parádeigma, “pattern, model, example”),^[2][3][4] a noun from παραδείκνυμι (paradeíknumi, “to exhibit, show side by side”),^[3][5] formed from παρά (pará, “beside”) and δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “to show”).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Tertullian, who speaks in De anima of a model taken from Plato, in the sense of a pattern or example.^[4][6][3]

Semantic evolution

It was a technical term of rhetoric for an example, and of grammar for a model of inflection, as in Charisius and Diomedes.^[7][6] Isidore defines it as the citing of an example of something said or done, from a like or unlike case.^[8] Gregory the Great used it for a model.^[9]

In Medieval Latin it kept the senses of example and grammatical paradigm, and was used of biblical examples.^[10] English borrowed paradigm in the late 15th century from the Late Latin word.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for a model taken from Plato.^[4][3]
• 2nd half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes uses it as a term of grammar.^[6][3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore defines it as a figure of speech.^[8][3]
• late 15th century – English borrows paradigm.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rhetoric) An example, a model or pattern.^[4][6][9]
2. (grammar) A paradigm, a model of inflection.^[4][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A biblical example.^[10]

Related words

• English paradigm

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ 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