Etymologically
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quantitas

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷan.tɪ.taːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷan.ti.tas][1]

Forms

quantitās f (genitive quantitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quantus (“how great, how much”) + -tās.[2][1][3] It was made as a translation of Ancient Greek ποσότης (posótēs, “quantity”), from πόσος (pósos, “how great? how much?”),[4][1] like quālitās.[1] Wiktionary credits the coinage to Cicero,[1] although the earliest citation the OLD gives is from Vitruvius.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's and Köbler's first author is Vitruvius, who uses it of size, for example the size of the intervals between musical tones.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short think it perhaps only post-Augustan.[5] Quintilian uses it as one of the ten categories, divided into how large and how many a thing is, and of the volume of the voice.[2][5] Pliny the Elder has it for an amount of moisture, and Apuleius for a large amount.[2]

The jurists used it for a specified amount, above all a sum of money,[2][5] and the logicians for the quantity of a proposition, whether universal or particular.[5][6] Boethius and Cassiodorus use it of the philosophical category.[7] Medieval Latin used it of the size of bodies, land and time, and in music of the duration of a note.[8]

It was borrowed into English as quantity in the early 14th century, partly through Old French ⟨quantite⟩;[4] Italian quantità also continues it.[7][4]

Timeline

  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of size and extent.[2][3]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian counts it among the ten categories.[2][3]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a large amount.[2][3]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of a sum of money.[2][3]
  • early 14th century – English borrows it as quantity.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Magnitude, size, extent, degree.[2][5][6]
  2. A (specified) amount, quantity.[2][5]
  3. A sum of money.[2][5]
  4. A large quantity.[2]
  5. (logic) The quantity of a proposition, whether it is universal or particular.[5][6]
  6. (Medieval Latin, music) The duration of a note.[8]

Word family

  • quantitātīvus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b 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