Etymologically
Log in

pervicacia

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛr.wɪˈkaː.ki.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [per.viˈkaː.t͡ʃi.a][1]

Forms

pervicācia f (genitive pervicāciae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pervicāx (“determined, stubborn”) + -ia.[2][1][3] The adjective pervicāx is formed from per- and vincō (“to conquer”),[1][4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *wink- (“to tie, bind; to overcome”) and Proto-Indo-European *ui-n-k- (“to bend, tie”), probably the root also of vinciō (“to bind”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius is the first author,[4][3] in the sense of firmness or resolution.[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first meaning was persistence in the face of opposition, steadfastness;[2][5] the TLL notes that it leans towards the bad sense.[3] In a tragedy of Accius, Achilles answers Antilochus that what he calls stubbornness, pertinācia, is resolution, pervicācia, which the brave follow.[3][6][7] Nonius likewise says that it is sometimes perseverance in good things, while pertinācia is always in bad ones.[3]

The bad sense, obstinacy, prevailed:[2][8] Cicero lists it among the sicknesses of the mind with avarice and ambition, Livy has a tribune tell Appius Claudius that his stubbornness and arrogance forced him to speak, and Tacitus calls a perverse obstinacy what the Germans call good faith.[2][3] Tacitus still used it for unbending firmness against an enemy,[5][6] and Pliny the Elder of a tree's persistence in enduring.[6] Augustine, who uses it often, defines it as the lust of winning by any means.[3] Ecclesiastical and Medieval Latin kept the sense of stubbornness.[9][10] It survives in Italian pervicacia.[5]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of resolution.[3][5][11]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[11]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius contrasts it with pertinācia.[3][6][11]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero lists it among faults of the mind.[2][11]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of stubbornness and arrogance.[2][11]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it both of perverse obstinacy and of firmness.[2][5][11]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine defines it as the lust of winning.[3][11]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of a sinful life's obstinacy.[10][11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Persistence in the face of opposition, steadfastness, firmness.[2][8][5]
  2. (pejorative) Obstinacy, stubbornness.[2][8][9]

Usage notes

Döderlein counts pervicācia and persevērantia as virtues of holding to a resolution, the first rooted in natural energy, the second in a character formed by training, while pertinācia and contumācia are faults: stiff-necked adherence and haughty defiance of proper authority.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b 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
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de