Etymologically
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qualitativus

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Forms

quālitātīvus (feminine quālitātīva, neuter quālitātīvum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin quālitās (“quality”) + -īvus.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cassiodorus (c. 485–c. 580 AD) uses it in his commentary on Psalm 21;[4][1][5] Georges gives the Greek ποιότης (poiótēs) as its equivalent.[1]

Semantic evolution

Isidore of Seville has it in the second book of the Etymologiae,[1][2] and Köbler records it in the minor Latin rhetoricians.[5] In a letter of Gerbert it names one of the issues on which a legal case can turn, beside the conjectural, the definitional and the translative ones;[6] Du Cange explains it as what makes up the quality or nature of a thing.[6]

Medieval British writers used it in natural philosophy: Adelard of Bath sets a qualitative change, as from sweet to bitter or from wine to vinegar, against an essential one, as from water to crystal.[3] English qualitative comes from it in the early 15th century.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in his commentary on the Psalms.[4][1][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville has it in the Etymologiae.[1][2][5]
  • 983–997 – Gerbert uses it of an issue in a legal case.[6][5]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as qualitatif.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to quality, qualitative.[1][2][4][3]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Making up the quality or nature of a thing.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  2. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  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 d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com