pluralitas

Forms

plūrālitās f (genitive plūrālitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin plūrālis (“plural”) + -itās,^[2][3][4] and plūrālis comes from plūs (“more”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it in prose from the grammarian Charisius (c. 362 AD) on,^[2][5] who uses it of the plural number and plural forms.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Beside the grammatical plural, Christian writers used it for plurality as opposed to unity: Ambrose sets it against unitas,^[3][6] and Augustine speaks of a pluralitas personarum in the Trinity.^[4][7] Boethius has it in arithmetic and for a great number of books.^[4] In the Rule of Columbanus it means a great multitude.^[8]

Medieval writers used it for a large number or quantity,^[9][10] and in the Church for the holding of several benefices at once.^[9][5] Aldhelm says the Greeks named the Pleiades after their plurality,^[10] and in scholastic philosophy, as in Thomas Aquinas, it is the counterpart of unity, with kinds such as plurality of persons and plurality in matter.^[11] English took the word over from Old French.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 362 AD – Charisius uses it for the plural forms of nouns.^[2][5]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose opposes it to unitas.^[3][6][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine speaks of a pluralitas personarum.^[4][7][5]
• 590–615 – The Rule of Columbanus uses it of a great multitude of monks.^[8][5]
• 639–709 – Aldhelm explains the name of the Pleiades from their plurality.^[10][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as plurality.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (grammar) The plural number.^[3][4][2]
2. (Late Latin) plurality, the state of being more than one, as opposed to unity.^[3][4][13]
3. (Late Latin) A great number, multitude.^[8][9][10]
4. (Medieval Latin) The holding of several ecclesiastical benefices.^[9]

Related words

• English plurality

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c d 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
11. ^ Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson