praestigium

Forms

praestīgium n (genitive praestīgiī or praestīgī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin praestīgiae (“illusions, tricks”), made into a neuter singular.^[2][3] The TLL treats both in one article.^[4]

The TLL derives that word from praestringō (“to blind, dazzle”), with another vowel grade of the stem ⟨strig⟩, and explains the loss of the first ⟨r⟩ as dissimilation once the link with the verb had faded.^[4] Köbler also refers it to that verb,^[5] while Lewis and Short derive the plural from praestinguō (“to extinguish, obscure”);^[6] Wiktionary gives both explanations.^[1]

Isidore of Seville explained the name as that which dazzles the sharpness of the eyes, and reported that Mercury was said to have been the first to invent it.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jerome is the first to use the singular, in the sense of an imposture or trick.^[2][8][9][5]

Semantic evolution

Cassiodorus also uses it.^[2] Lewis and Short define it as a delusion, illusion or trick, and a glossary equates it with a Greek word for sorcery;^[6] in medieval sources it means deception and magic.^[5][3] Thomas Aquinas names as praestigium a kind of divination in which demons deceive the eyes of men with apparitions.^[10] A Polish source of 1522 calls someone's promises “mere praestigia”, and Polish medieval Latin also uses it for superstition.^[11]

It is the source of French prestige, which English borrowed in the 1650s for a trick or illusion; from about 1815 the English word came to mean a reputation for excellence.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of an imposture.^[2][5]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in his letters.^[2][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains its name.^[7][5]
• 1522 – A Polish source calls promises “mere praestigia”.^[11]
• 1650s – English borrows prestige from French in the sense “trick, illusion”.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A delusion, illusion.^[6][1]
2. (Late Latin) A trick, imposture, charlatanism.^[8][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) Sorcery, deception by magic.^[5]
4. (Medieval Latin) Divination by illusions.^[10]
5. (Medieval Latin) Superstition.^[11]

Related words

• praestīgiae
• praestīgiōsus
• praestringō
• English prestige

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
11. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com