proximitas

Forms

proximitās f (genitive proximitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin proximus (“nearest”) + -tās.^[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Vitruvius, of nearness in space.^[3][5][4]

Semantic evolution

Ovid uses it of close kinship, as when a speaker laments ipsa damnō est mihi proximitās “my very nearness of kin is my loss”, and of closeness in quality: lateat vitium proximitāte bonī “let a fault hide under the virtue nearest to it”.^[2][6][5] Quintilian has it of relationship too, and Apuleius uses it of the joining of things together.^[5][6] In the poem Nux the speaker complains of being accused of too much nearness.^[2]

In British medieval sources it is nearness in space or in degree, as in Duns Scotus, and spiritual kinship, which the synodal statutes of about 1218 say is contracted in confirmation as in baptism; collectively it could mean one's neighbours.^[7] English proximity is from the late 15th century, through French ⟨proximité⟩;^[8] Italian has prossimità.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of nearness in space.^[3][5][4]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of kinship and of similarity.^[2][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of relationship.^[5]
• c. 1218 – British synodal statutes speak of the spiritual kinship made by confirmation.^[7]
• late 15th century – English proximity is first recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. nearness, proximity; the neighbouring area, vicinity.^[2][5][1]
2. Near kinship, closeness of nature.^[2][5]
3. Closeness in quality, similarity, resemblance.^[2][5]
4. Connection, union.^[5][6]
5. (Medieval Latin) Spiritual kinship, as between sponsor and child.^[7]
6. (Medieval Latin) One's neighbours collectively.^[7]

Related words

• English proximity

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d 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