Etymologically
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peritia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛˈriː.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [peˈrit.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

perītia f (genitive perītiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin perītus (“experienced, skilled”) + -ia.[2][1][3] De Vaan places perītus with perīculum (“trial”) under a stem Proto-Italic *per(e)i- (“to experience”), which he connects with pariō (“to bring forth”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sallust has it first,[5][3] of knowledge of the country and of warfare in the Jugurtha.[6][7] Lewis & Short note that it is not in Cicero or Caesar,[6] and the TLL finds it in Sallust and then from Seneca's letters on.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is knowledge gained by experience, practical skill, usually with a genitive of what one knows: Tacitus has skill in law and in customs, Suetonius foreknowledge of the future, and Pliny the Elder skill in laying out a camp.[6][7] Tacitus also has it alone, a man outstanding in skill and art.[6][7] The Vulgate speaks of the art of fighting and of much experience as the crown of old men,[6] and Lactantius of those skilled in calling up souls from the dead.[7] Iūris perītia is jurisprudence in Boethius.[7] Church Latin has skill, expertise and scientific knowledge,[8] and medieval texts also use it for information.[9]

Timeline

  • 86–34 BC – Sallust, of knowledge of the country and of warfare.[6][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of skill in law.[6][5]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius, of foreknowledge.[6][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, of the experience of old men.[6][5]
  • Medieval Latin – Information.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Knowledge gained by experience, practical skill, expertise.[2][6][1]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Scientific knowledge.[8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Information.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill