Etymologically
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possibilitas

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Forms

possibilitās f (genitive possibilitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin possibilis (“possible”) + -tās,[2][1][3] and so goes back to possum (“to be able”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Old Latin Bible, where the Letter to the Hebrews speaks of senses trained by the possibilitas of taking solid food, the ability to do something.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant ability or power, often with a gerund (faciendi possibilitas, the power to act),[2] and pro possibilitate meant “as far as one's means allow”.[5][6] Christian writers debated the possibilitas of not sinning.[2] In medieval Latin it took on concrete meanings: bodily strength, means and resources, a possession, a landed estate.[7][4] Scholastic writers used it for logical and natural possibility,[8] and English possibility (late 14th century) comes from it, directly and through French.[3]

Timeline

  • after 220 AD – The Old Latin Bible uses it in the Letter to the Hebrews.[2][4]
  • 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it for power.[6][5][4]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses pro possibilitate.[6][5][4]
  • late 14th century – English possibility is first recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Ability, power, capacity (to do something).[2][6][9]
  2. possibility.[10][8][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Bodily strength, health.[7][4]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Means, resources; a possession, a landed estate.[7][4]

Usage notes

Pro possibilitate and secundum possibilitatem (“according to one's ability”) are frequent in Late and medieval Latin.[5][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson