Etymologically
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paragraphus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [paˈra.ɡra.pʰʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [paˈraː.ɡra.fus][1]

Forms

paragraphus f or m (genitive paragraphī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek παράγραφος (parágraphos, “dividing line”),[1][2][3] a word Köbler connects with the Greek verb meaning to write beside, built on παρά (pará, “beside”).[2] The Latin word follows the Greek in being feminine for Georges and Gaffiot, while Conte and Stelten give it as masculine.[3][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636 AD)[2] lists it among the critical signs used in texts: the paragraphus is set to separate matters that run together in a continuous passage.[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the grammarians it remained a technical name for a written mark, which Georges describes as shaped like an S, used to show where one subject ends and another begins.[3][7] Medieval Latin kept it as the name of the paragraph mark,[8] and Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for a paragraph, a section of text.[6]

Through Old French paragrafe it reached English as paragraph around 1500, both for the sign and for a section of writing.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville describes the paragraphus as a mark separating subjects in a text.[7][2]
  • c. 1500 – English takes the word over from Old French as paragraph.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A paragraph mark, a sign in a text separating one subject from the next.[3][4][5][8]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A paragraph, a section of a text.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com