Etymologically
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praestigiosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯s.tiː.ɡiˈoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pres.ti.d͡ʒiˈɔː.s̬us][1]

Forms

praestīgiōsus (feminine praestīgiōsa, neuter praestīgiōsum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin praestīgiae (“tricks, illusions”) + -ōsus.[2][1][3] The TLL derives it from the older form ⟨praestrigiae⟩, though the manuscripts have only ⟨-stig-⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Aulus Gellius, meaning “full of trickery, deceptive”.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Arnobius uses it in nihil praestigiosum aut subdolum, “nothing deceptive or crafty”.[6] In medieval British Latin it was used of people who performed conjuring tricks or practised magic, as a noun for a magician, of magic itself, and still of anything deceptive.[7] Erasmus still uses it for “deceptive”.[8]

English prestigious, from the 1540s, first meant “practising illusion, deceptive”.[9] The Italian word prestigioso comes from the postclassical Latin word.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses it for “deceptive”.[2][5]
  • 297–310 AD – Arnobius pairs it with subdolus, crafty.[6][5]
  • 1540s – English borrows it as prestigious, “deceptive”.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Full of trickery, deceptive.[2][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Performing conjuring tricks, practising magic; as a noun, a magician.[7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Magical.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier