probabilitas

Forms

probābilitās f (genitive probābilitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin probābilis + -tās,^[2][3] a word coined by Cicero.^[1] Probābilis “credible” comes from probō (“to approve”),^[4] and Bianchi & Lelli trace the group to probus (“good, honest”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in his philosophical works, almost as a technical term of the Academic school, for the quality of seeming true: he warns against being deceived by a captious probābilitās.^[3][2][6]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero it is the likelihood on which the Academic wise man acts when certainty is out of reach.^[3] Augustine discusses the probābilitās of the Academics, and also uses it of what is judged good by human standards.^[3] The TLL finds no plural in ancient Latin.^[3] In British Medieval Latin it also meant something likely to be true, a probability.^[7] It passed into Italian probabilità and French probabilité,^[1][6] and English probability comes from it, partly through French.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the appearance of truth in the Academic doctrine.^[3][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine writes of the probābilitās of the Academics.^[3][4]
• mid-15th century – English probability is first recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. An appearance of truth, probability, plausibility.^[2][9][10]
2. Credibility.^[9][1]
3. (Late Latin) The quality of being judged good or upright.^[3]
4. (Medieval Latin) Something likely to be true, a probability.^[7]

Related words

• probābilis
• probō
• improbābilitās
• English probability

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company