probitas

Forms

probitās f (genitive probitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin probus (“good, upright”) + -tās.^[2][1][3] The adjective probus goes back to Proto-Italic *profwos (“favourable”) and Proto-Indo-European *pro-bʰh₂u-o-.^[4] Cognate with Umbrian prufe (“correct”) and Sanskrit प्रभु (prabhú-, “excellent”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Pacuvius,^[5] who urges people to preserve concord by honesty.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is moral integrity, uprightness or honesty, which Cicero names with virtue and integrity as what is looked for in a candidate.^[2][6] Ovid uses it of chastity, and Quintilian of a decorous modesty that is really weakness.^[2] Columella applies it to things, the good quality of bread and drink.^[2]

In medieval texts it also means a chivalrous exploit.^[7] Church Latin glosses it “integrity, goodness”.^[8]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of honesty.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the qualities of a candidate.^[6][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of chastity.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella of the quality of bread.^[2][5]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as probity, through Old French.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Honesty, integrity, probity; chastity; modesty.^[2][6][1]
2. Of things, excellence, quality.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A chivalrous exploit, prowess.^[7]

Related words

• probus
• English probity

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e 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 Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com