propheticus

Forms

prophēticus (feminine prophētica, neuter prophēticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek προφητικός (prophētikós, “prophetic”),^[2][3][4][5] an adjective formed from προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “prophet”), which Latin borrowed as prophēta.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Tertullian (c. 160–220 AD), who calls Moses a prophetic, not a poetic, shepherd.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

It remained a word of Christian Latin:^[2] Lactantius speaks of prophetic writings, Prudentius of prophetic voices, and the Vulgate of the “prophetic word”.^[3][2] Manuscripts often spell it ⟨profet-⟩.^[7] In medieval Latin it also meant belonging to the Old Testament, and the neuter propheticum was a prophecy or a verse of the Old Testament;^[8] British writers spoke of the spiritus propheticus, the spirit of prophecy.^[5] In Thomas Aquinas it is a synonym of prophētālis, as in lumen propheticum, the light of prophecy.^[9]

English borrowed prophetic in the late 15th century, from French and directly from Late Latin.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian calls Moses a prophetic shepherd.^[2][4]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius speaks of prophetic writings.^[3][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate speaks of the prophetic word.^[2][4]
• late 15th century – Borrowed into English as prophetic.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a prophet or prophecy, prophetic.^[2][3][10]
2. (Medieval Latin) Of the Old Testament.^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin, as a neuter noun) A prophecy; a verse of the Old Testament.^[8][5]

Word family

• prophēticē

Related words

• prophēta
• English prophetic

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson