perceptibilis

Forms

perceptibilis (neuter perceptibile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin percipiō (“to take hold of, perceive”), formed on the stem of its participle perceptus with the suffix -bilis.^[2][3][4] The TLL compares the rarer percipibilis.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first passage is from the Latin translation of Irenaeus, of God becoming perceptible to men.^[3] The first dated author is Chalcidius, about 300, in whose Timaeus that which always is can be grasped by the intellect.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In the passive sense it meant what can be grasped by the senses (so Augustine) or by the mind (Chalcidius, Boethius, Cassiodorus).^[3][2] Boethius also used it actively, with a genitive, for what is capable of receiving something, as man is capable of learning; this rendered Greek terms of Aristotle.^[3][2] Medieval Latin kept the sense “perceptible, noticeable”.^[6] English perceptible was borrowed in the early 15th century, first in the sense “perceptive”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses it of what can be grasped by the intellect.^[3][5]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus has it in his church history.^[2][3][5]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as perceptible.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Perceptible, that can be grasped by the senses or the mind.^[3][2][6]
2. (with genitive) Capable of receiving or sharing in something.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill