Etymologically
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philosophia

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pʰɪ.ɫɔˈsɔ.pʰi.a][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fi.loˈs̬ɔː.fi.a][1]

Forms

philosophia f (genitive philosophiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía, “love of wisdom”), from φίλος (phílos, “loving”) and σοφία (sophía, “wisdom”).[2][1][3][4] Inscriptions have ⟨filosofia⟩.[5] Cicero translates it as ⟨studium sapientiae⟩ “the pursuit of wisdom”.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC.[3] The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant philosophy, philosophical thought, as in Cicero, and in the plural particular systems or schools.[2][7] It also meant a view of life, an attitude.[2] Isidore defines it as the knowledge of human and divine things joined with the pursuit of living well.[8]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant philosophy.[9] Medieval Latin used it for the monastic life.[10] It survives in Italian filosofia and French philosophie, and English philosophy came about 1300, “knowledge, learning”.[1][4]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of philosophy and of schools.[2][3]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore defines it.[8][3]
  • c. 1300 – English philosophy is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Philosophy; a school of philosophy.[2]
  2. A view of life, an attitude.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The monastic life.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill