personalitas

Forms

persōnālitās f (genitive persōnālitātis); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin persōnālis (“personal”), with the suffix -tās.^[3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only ancient witness in Gaffiot, Conte and Köbler is a letter of Paulinus of Nola,^[1][2][4] where the TLL glosses it as the nature or character of a person.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Medieval writers used it for the quality of being a person, especially in theology, where it was asked whether Christ's human nature had a personality of its own.^[5][6] Grammarians used it for grammatical person,^[5] and it could mean someone's personal standing or worth.^[5][7]

In church law it meant personal presence^[8] and, as an endowment, a benefice or living, or the patron's duty to present a parson to the bishop.^[8][5][4] Italian personalità continues the Late Latin word.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 353–431 AD – Paulinus of Nola uses it in a letter.^[1][2][4]
• 1120 – A charter of Louis VI uses it for a person's quality or status.^[7]
• c. 1200 – British Latin records it.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) Personality, the nature or character of a person.^[3][1][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) Personal quality or standing.^[5][7]
3. (Medieval Latin, theology) Personhood.^[5][6]
4. (Medieval Latin, grammar) Grammatical person.^[5]
5. (Medieval Latin) Personal presence.^[8]
6. (Medieval Latin) A benefice; the obligation to present a parson to the bishop.^[8][5]

Related words

• persona
• English personality

References

1. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
2. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson