philologus

Forms

philologus (feminine philologa, neuter philologum); first/second-declension adjective; as a noun, m (genitive philologī); second declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φιλόλογος (philólogos, “fond of learning; a scholar”),^[1][2][3] a compound of φίλος (phílos, “dear; friend”) and λόγος (lógos, “word, speech, reason”).^[3]

The spelling ⟨fil-⟩ is found in manuscripts and glossaries, and copyists sometimes confused the word with philosophus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's earliest example is a fragment of Ennius preserved by Festus, where the sense is unclear; the TLL suggests it may there mean “talkative”.^[4] In prose it appears from Cicero's letters on,^[4][3] as in his remark about men who are nōbilēs illī quidem, sed nūllō modō philologī, “noble, it is true, but not at all men of letters”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The TLL notes that the word belonged mostly to everyday language and often concerned Greek matters.^[4] As an adjective it meant “literary, learned”: Vitruvius speaks of delighting in philologīs et philotechnīs rēbus, literary and technical pursuits.^[2][1] As a noun it meant a man of learning or letters,^[1] with a wider culture than a grammaticus or litterātor according to L&S.^[2] Suetonius says that Ateius took the name Philologus for his varied learning, like Eratosthenes, who first claimed it,^[2][4] and Seneca contrasts what a philologus, a grammaticus and a philosopher each notice when reading Cicero's De re publica.^[2]

Medieval British glossaries explain it as a lover of reason or of the word.^[5] In Neo-Latin it could still mean a lover of words, as in Ficino, who sets the philologus against the philosopher, and it came to mean a lover and expert of the ancient languages and literatures, as in Poliziano and Erasmus.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in a fragment, in an unclear sense.^[4][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in his letters of men of letters.^[4][3]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it as an adjective, “literary”.^[2][3]
• 4 BC–AD 65 – Seneca uses the noun beside grammaticus and philosophus.^[2][3]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius explains the surname Philologus.^[2][3]
• 1533 – Erasmus addresses the preface of his Adagia to all philologī.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of subjects) Literary, learned.^[1][2]
2. (of persons) Scholarly, versed in literature.^[2]

Noun

1. A man of learning or letters, a scholar.^[1][2]
2. (New Latin) A lover of words; a lover and expert of the ancient languages and literatures, a philologist.^[6]

Related words

• philologia
• philosophus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ 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 c Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de