proverbialis

Forms

prōverbiālis (neuter prōverbiāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin prōverbium (“proverb”) + -ālis.^[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aulus Gellius, about AD 165, is the first to use it,^[5][2] reporting a line of verse that had become proverbial (versum istum proverbialem factum).^[4]

Semantic evolution

The TLL finds it only in the positive degree, from Gellius and Porphyrio on and mostly in the grammarians; it was said of expressions in common use, often figurative ones, and the neuter could serve as a noun.^[3] The adverb prōverbiāliter “proverbially” appears in Ammianus Marcellinus, Sidonius Apollinaris and Donatus' commentary on Terence.^[2]

In medieval British Latin it described a saying of proverbial character, one taken from a proverb, or one drawn from the biblical book of Proverbs;^[6] Alcuin already uses it in a letter of 798.^[6] Italian proverbiale continues it,^[7] and English took proverbial from it in the late 15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius calls a line of verse proverbial.^[4][5]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses the adverb prōverbiāliter.^[2][5]
• 798 – Alcuin speaks of a proverbial saying of the ancients in a letter.^[6]
• late 15th century – English borrows it as proverbial.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to a proverb, proverbial.^[1][2][4]
2. Like a proverb; current as a common saying.^[3][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Taken from the biblical book of Proverbs.^[6]

Related words

• English proverbial

References

1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e 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
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com