praestigia

Forms

praestīgia f (genitive praestīgiae); first declension^[1] Usually plural, praestīgiae; the singular is rare (Quintilian, Tertullian).^[2][3][4] Also praestrīgia, the older form, in some manuscripts of Cicero and in Caecilius.^[4][2][5] Late writers also use a neuter praestīgium, plural praestīgia.^[2][6]

Etymology

It is from Latin praestringō (“to blunt, dazzle (the eyes)”).^[4][2][7] The TLL explains that ⟨-strīg-⟩ is an ablaut variant of the stem of the verb, which meant “to blind”; once the noun was no longer felt to belong to the verb, the first ⟨r⟩ was lost by dissimilation, giving ⟨praestīgiae⟩ for ⟨praestrīgiae⟩.^[2] The suffix is that of abstract nouns such as dēsidia.^[2]

Isidore of Seville already derived it from the verb, saying that a trick of this kind dazzles the sight of the eyes.^[2][8] It is the source of Italian prestigio^[9] and French prestige.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first instance is in Plautus, Captīvī 524: patent praestīgiae, “the tricks are out in the open”.^[3][9][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a deception or piece of trickery, often in the plural: Cicero speaks of verbōrum praestīgiae, tricks with words, and of stealing nōn per praestīgiās sed palam, not by sleight of hand but openly.^[3][9][4] It is also a juggler's or conjuror's trick.^[3][5] Gellius and Apuleius apply it to natural marvels and to the deceptive shapes of clouds.^[4][5] Tertullian uses it of the tricks of charlatans and of allure.^[9] In Medieval Latin it is an illusion produced by magic, one of the kinds of the magic art.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: patent praestīgiae.^[3][9][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of verbōrum praestīgiae, verbal trickery.^[3][9][7]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius applies it to the marvels recorded by Pliny the Elder.^[4][7]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of charlatans' tricks.^[9][7]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of a magical illusion.^[6][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually plural) A trick, deception, piece of trickery: verbōrum praestīgiae, tricks with words.^[4][3]
2. A juggler's trick, sleight of hand.^[3][5][1]
3. (of natural phenomena) An illusion, phantasmagoria.^[4][5]
4. (Late Latin) allure, enticement.^[9]
5. (Medieval Latin) An illusion produced by magic; a kind of magic art.^[6]

Word family

• praestīgiōsus
• praestīgium
• praestīgiātor

Related words

• praestringō
• English prestige

Usage notes

Ancient grammarians list praestīgiae among nouns used only in the plural.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911)., p. 8.9.33
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier