rigiditas

Forms

rigiditās f (genitive rigiditātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin rigidus (“stiff, rigid”) + -tās.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius uses it of the stiffness and hardness of wood.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In British Medieval Latin it is stiffness of the body, in a medical question about erection, and figuratively severity or harshness, of penalties stricter than the divine law.^[6] English took it over in the 1620s as rigidity, “stiffness, inflexibility”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the stiffness of wood.^[2][8]
• 1620s – English borrows it as rigidity.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Stiffness, rigidity; the quality of not bending.^[2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) Severity, harshness.^[6]

Related words

• English rigidity

References

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