phantasticus

Forms

phantasticus (feminine phantastica, neuter phantasticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φανταστικός (phantastikós, “able to imagine”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to make visible”).^[1][2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

According to the TLL it is found from Augustine on, of illusions that deceive the eyes: he calls the tricks of the magicians in Exodus phantastica illa figmenta.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Augustine the neuter phantasticum also names a person's phantom or double.^[6] Theologians applied it to the doctrine that Christ's body was only apparent, and insisted that he was non phantasticum, sed verum, not a phantom but a real man;^[5] Gregory the Great tells of monks deluded by a phantasticus ignis, fire conjured up by the devil.^[5][6]

In medieval Latin it meant imaginary, unreal and abstract,^[7][8] and British writers such as Felix and Bede used it for deceptive visions and illusions of the devil.^[4] English fantastic came from it through Old French;^[2] Etymonline notes that medieval Latin also used it as a noun for a lunatic.^[2]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of the illusions of magicians.^[5][3]
• Medieval Latin – Imaginary, unreal, abstract.^[7]
• late 14th century – English fantastic, through Old French.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) Imaginary, unreal; illusory, deceptive.^[5][9][7][4]
2. (Late Latin) Of the imagination;^[6][9] phantasticum, a person's phantom or double.^[6][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) Abstract.^[7]

Related words

• phantasia
• phantasma
• English fantastic

Usage notes

The adverb phantasticē is used by Nebridius in a letter to Augustine.^[9] In Fulgentius the word is a false reading for phonascicus.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn