Etymologically
Log in

particularitas

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

particulāritās f (genitive particulāritātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin particulāris (“concerning a part”) + -itās.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Boethius, in the early 6th century,[3] as a term of logic: the particular character of a proposition, as opposed to universality.[2][1]

Semantic evolution

The TLL finds it only in the singular in ancient texts, and mostly in contrast with universalitas.[2] Medieval philosophers kept it in this sense of particularity.[5][6]

In late medieval and Renaissance Latin it also came to mean a detail or particular circumstance, often in the plural: Bessarion writes of all the necessary particulars,[7] and a speech of about 1471 cited by Du Cange sets out the particulars of the cases in writing.[8] English particularity came in the 1520s from French particularité, from the Late Latin word.[4]

Timeline

  • early 6th century AD – Boethius uses it in logic for the particular character of a proposition.[3][2]
  • 1459 – Bessarion uses the plural for the particulars of a matter.[7]
  • c. 1471 – A speech cited by Du Cange uses it of the circumstances of cases.[8]
  • 1520s – English particularity is recorded, through French.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin, philosophy) particularity, the state of being particular, as opposed to universality.[2][1][5]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A particular circumstance, a detail.[8][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre