Etymologically
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pleonasmus

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Forms

pleonasmus m (genitive pleonasmī); second declension[1][2] The Greek form pleonasmos is also used.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πλεονασμός (pleonasmós), first found in Late Latin,[1][4][3] from πλεονάζω (pleonázō, “to be more than enough, to add superfluously”), from πλέον (pléon, “more”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first author to use it is Martianus Capella, in the 5th century AD,[2][6] as a term of grammar for a pleonasm.[1][3]

Semantic evolution

Isidore of Seville defines pleonasmos as the needless addition of one word and quotes Virgil's “sidera caeli” (“the stars of the sky”), since the stars are nowhere but in the sky.[7] British medieval writers used it the same way: one calls piscinas aquarum (“pools of waters”) a pleonasm, like ore locuta est (“she spoke with her mouth”).[4] Polish sources gloss it as a superfluous addition of words, a tautology.[8]

English borrowed it in the 1580s as pleonasm.[5]

Timeline

  • 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it as a grammatical term.[2][6]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it among the faults of speech.[7][6]
  • 1580s – Borrowed into English as pleonasm.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (grammar, rhetoric) pleonasm, the use of more words than the sense needs.[1][2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  8. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl