parsimonia

Forms

parsimōnia f (genitive parsimōniae); first declension^[1] It is also spelled parcimōnia.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin parcō (“to spare”) + -mōnia.^[3][1] De Vaan explains that it was built on the perfect parsī, more common in Old Latin than later.^[4][5] He traces parcō to Proto-Italic *pe-ark-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂er(ḱ)- (“to hold”), with Keller and Weiss' ⟨*pe-h₂erk-⟩ “to hold off”, the root of arceō (“to keep off”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] who has “he spoke very prettily in favour of thrift”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is thrift or frugality, and also stinginess, as in Tacitus' gift sent to a mother without any stinginess.^[3] With a genitive it is moderation in something, as Nepos' restraint in food and dress, and Cicero uses it of an economical, unadorned style.^[3] The verse summary of Plautus' Truculentus uses it of savings.^[3] Church Latin glosses it “frugality, thrift, parsimony”,^[6] and in Medieval Latin it is sobriety in eating and drinking, and fasting.^[7] English parsimony is from the early 15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of thrift.^[3][4][9]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of economy of style.^[3][9]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of moderation in food and dress.^[3][9]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of stinginess.^[3][9]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as parsimony.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Thrift, frugality; stinginess, parsimony.^[3][2][6][1]
2. Moderation, restraint; economy of words.^[3]
3. Savings.^[3]
4. (Medieval Latin) Sobriety, temperance; fasting.^[7]

Related words

• parcō
• parcus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de