Etymologically
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perpetuitas

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Forms

perpetuitās f (genitive perpetuitātis); third declension[1] The spelling perpetuetas appears on a coin of 378–383, and coins abbreviate the word.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin perpetuus (“continuous, permanent”) + -tās.[3][1][2] De Vaan lists perpetuus, like perpes (“continuous”), among the words formed from petō (“to make for, seek”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,[5] who speaks of the uninterrupted continuance of someone's goodwill and of an unbroken run of words in a speech.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the quality of being unbroken: in space, an unbroken stretch, as in Vitruvius' opācae perpetuitātēs of tracts of land;[3][6] in time, uninterrupted duration;[3] and in speech, its connected flow.[3][6] Cicero says that philosophers should be judged by their consistency, not by single sayings, and uses ad perpetuitātem, “for ever”.[6] In medieval charters it stands for the lasting force of a grant, and in the Church for a benefice held for life; philosophical writers used it of the soul's perpetuity.[7] Ecclesiastical Latin also used it for eternity.[8] English has perpetuity from the late 14th century, from Old French perpetuité and directly from Latin.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of continuity in time and in speech.[3][6][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses the plural of unbroken tracts of land.[6][5]
  • 378–383 – The spelling perpetuetas on an imperial coin.[2]
  • 1232 – A Chester charter speaks of the “strength of perpetuity” of a written grant.[7]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as perpetuity.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Continuity in space; an unbroken stretch.[3][6]
  2. Uninterrupted duration; the whole course (of a life, activity).[3][6]
  3. The connected flow of speech or writing.[3][6]
  4. Permanence, perpetuity;[3][6] ad perpetuitātem, for ever.[3][6]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Eternity.[8]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A perpetual benefice; a grant in perpetuity.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 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 k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c 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
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com