religiose

Forms

religiōsē (comparative religiōsius, superlative religiōsissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin religiōsus (“religious, scrupulous”) + -ē.^[2][1] De Vaan finds it uncertain whether religiō belongs with ligō “to tie”,^[3] and Wiktionary gives both that verb and relegō as possible sources.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] who writes of a temple of Juno that people worshipped most devoutly, and asks judges to judge strictly and conscientiously.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means with religious awe, reverently, and in keeping with religious law: Columella says that those who farm more religiously deny that the earth should be stirred with iron on certain days.^[2] It also means conscientiously or scrupulously, and with careful attention: Pliny the Younger says his uncle wrote histories most scrupulously.^[2] Pliny the Elder uses it of the magi's rules for buying a spleen.^[5] In Medieval Latin it meant as a monk, in the manner of a religious.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, devoutly and conscientiously.^[2][4]
• 1st century AD – Columella of farming in keeping with religious rules.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the magi.^[5][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In accordance with religious law.^[2]
2. With religious awe or devotion, reverently.^[2][1]
3. Conscientiously, scrupulously, carefully.^[2][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) As a monk.^[6]

Related words

• religiōsus
• religiō

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill