pragmaticus

Forms

prāgmaticus (feminine prāgmatica, neuter prāgmaticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πραγματικός (pragmatikós, “fit for business, businesslike”),^[2][3][1] from πρᾶγμα (prâgma, “deed, affair”).^[4] Köbler connects it further with πράσσειν (prássein, “to do, accomplish”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC) uses it first, in a letter to Atticus, of people experienced in affairs: pragmatici homines bid us beware of all stories.^[2][6][5]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it named the legal expert who supplied orators with points of law, a figure Cicero describes as common among the Greeks;^[2][6] Quintilian and Juvenal mention such men too.^[6] The neuter plural was the title of a work by Accius, cited by Gellius.^[2][6]

In late legal Latin it meant “relating to civil affairs”, above all in pragmatica sanctio, an imperial decree on the affairs of a community, and the neuter pragmaticum was an imperial rescript.^[6][7] Medieval writers kept the decree and used the neuter for a royal charter.^[7][8] The TLL notes that outside law the word never quite became Latin and was often written in Greek letters.^[9] English pragmatic goes back to it.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of pragmatici homines.^[2][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian mentions the pragmatici who helped orators.^[6][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius cites Accius' Pragmatica.^[2][5]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses the neuter pragmaticum for a rescript.^[6][5]
• 528–534 AD – The Code of Justinian speaks of a pragmatica sanctio.^[6][5]
• 1610s – English pragmatic is first recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Experienced in affairs, worldly-wise.^[2][6]
2. (Late Latin, law) Relating to civil affairs;^[6][7][8] pragmatica sanctio, an imperial decree, a pragmatic sanction.^[6][7][8]

Noun

1. A legal adviser who supplied orators with points of law.^[2][6]
2. (neuter plural) Pragmatica, the title of a work by Accius.^[2][6]
3. (Late Latin, neuter) An imperial rescript.^[6][7]
4. (Medieval Latin, neuter) A royal charter.^[7]

Word family

• pragmaticarius

Related words

• English pragmatic

Usage notes

Cicero writes the word in Greek letters in one passage of De oratore.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 d e f g h i j k l m n o Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften