particulatim

Forms

particulātim (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin particula (“small part”) + -ātim.^[1][2][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of pars (“part”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *parti- (“part”); he reports Schrijver's view that this was a pre-Latin formation on the present stem of pariō (“to bring forth”), first meaning “lot, portion”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the TLL find it first in Varro,^[5][2] who uses it in the De re rustica for piece by piece.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The TLL finds it in prose from Varro, the Rhetorica ad Herennium and Seneca, and in verse only in Lucretius and Prudentius.^[2] It means bit by bit, piecemeal, or one by one, severally:^[7][8] the Rhetorica ad Herennium contrasts telling a story summatim, non particulatim, in summary rather than in detail,^[8][9] Lucretius has the dying leaving the light little by little, and Seneca uses it of torturing someone piece by piece.^[9][10] Columella says that a flock recovers more easily a part at a time than all together, and the Digest that a servitude follows every part of an estate even when it is sold off in parts.^[8] Lactantius sets it against ubique, “everywhere”.^[8][6]

An Old English gloss renders it with styccimelum, “piecemeal”,^[2] and Old High German glosses with words such as stukkon.^[5] British medieval writers used it for in small portions and for gradually, as in Domesday Book.^[11]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in the De re rustica.^[6][5]
• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium contrasts it with summatim.^[8][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the dying.^[9][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a flock recovering.^[8][5]
• 533 AD – The Digest uses it of an estate sold in parts.^[8][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Bit by bit, piecemeal, little by little.^[7][8][9]
2. One by one, singly, severally; in detail.^[7][8]

Related words

• particula
• pars
• partim
• articulātim

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
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 f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
11. ^ 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