potentialitas

Forms

potentiālitās f (genitive potentiālitātis); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin potentiālis (“potential”) + -tās.^[3][1] Köbler refers it further to potēns (“powerful, able”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it in the Summa theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, dated 1265–1273.^[1] There Thomas says that God is pure act and has nothing of potentiality (Deus est purus actus, non habens aliquid de potentialitate).^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is a word of scholastic philosophy.^[4][3] In Thomas Aquinas it is a synonym of possibilitās, potentia and potestās, and the opposite both of actus and of impossibilitas, impotentia and impotentialitas.^[4] British writers used it in logic, as when a Pseudo-Grosseteste treatise speaks of the potentiality of prime matter,^[3] and a 13th-century philosophical text from Poland says that simple substances have some potentiality mixed in.^[2] English potentiality (1620s) is formed from potential or else taken from the Medieval Latin word.^[5]

Timeline

• 1265–1273 – Thomas Aquinas uses it in the Summa theologiae.^[1][4]
• 13th century – A philosophical text from Poland says that simple substances are not pure act.^[2]
• 1620s – English potentiality appears, perhaps from the Medieval Latin word.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) Potentiality, being in potency as opposed to act; possibility.^[4][3][1]

Related words

• English potentiality

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com