phrasis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpʰra.sɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfraː.s̬is]^[1]

Forms

phrasis f (genitive phrasis or phraseōs or phrasios); third declension^[1] Accusative phrasin.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “speech, manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrázō, “to point out, tell”).^[3][1][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Köbler cite Seneca the Elder, whom Köbler dates c. 55 BC–40 AD.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

In rhetoric it was diction, style, expression, a post-Augustan Greek term for the Latin ēlocūtiō, as in Seneca the Elder's judgement of Albucius and in Quintilian.^[3][6][2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was a phrase, a sentence.^[7] British Medieval Latin used it for an expression, a phrase, and for eloquence.^[8] Late Latin phrasis “diction” gave English phrase in the 1520s, first “manner of expression”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 55 BC–40 AD – Seneca the Elder uses it.^[6][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it.^[2][4]
• 1520s – English phrase is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Diction, style of expression.^[3]
2. (Medieval Latin) A phrase; eloquence.^[8][7]

Related words

• ēlocūtiō
• English phrase

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ 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