responsivus

Forms

respōnsīvus (feminine respōnsīva, neuter respōnsīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin respondeō (“to answer”).^[1][2] The DMLBS labels it Late Latin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Julius Rufinianus' treatise on figures of thought, where a sententia responsiva renders Ancient Greek ἀποφώνημα (apophṓnēma), a reply in the form of a maxim.^[4][1] An uncertain reading in Isidore of Seville also has it.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The grammarians applied it to words used in replying: Priscian speaks of such verbs and Asper of such pronouns.^[4][1]

In medieval British Latin it meant giving a reply in general, as a conclusion offered in answer to a question in Ockham;^[3] littera responsiva was a letter written in reply, and the feminine alone was used as a noun for such a reply.^[3]

Timeline

• 6th century AD – Priscian applies it to verbs used in replies.^[4][2]
• 1243 – A royal letter mentions a litteram responsivam, a letter in reply.^[3]
• 1290 – The feminine is used as a noun for a written reply.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Answering, serving as a reply.^[4][1]
2. (rhetoric) sententia responsīva: a reply in the form of a maxim.^[1]
3. (grammar) Used in replying (of words).^[4][1][3]
4. (Medieval Latin) littera responsīva: a letter in reply; the feminine responsīva as a noun, a written reply.^[3]

Related words

• respōnsum
• respōnsiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press