scepticus

Forms

scepticus m (genitive scepticī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σκεπτικός (skeptikós, “inquiring, reflective”), whose plural named the Sceptics, the followers of Pyrrho.^[2][3] The Greek adjective comes from σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to look about, consider”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quintilian has the plural Sceptici for the Sceptics, the disciples of Pyrrho.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin the word is the name of the philosophical school: Georges notes that the followers of Pyrrho were also called Sceptici.^[4][3] In New Latin scepticus became a noun for any sceptic,^[1] and English took sceptic in the 1580s from French and directly from Latin scepticus, first for a member of the ancient Greek school that doubted that real knowledge is possible.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian names the Sceptici, the disciples of Pyrrho.^[3]
• 1580s – English borrows sceptic from French and Latin for a member of the Sceptic school.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (plural) The Sceptics, the disciples of Pyrrho.^[3][4]
2. (New Latin) A sceptic, a member of the sect of sceptics.^[1]

Related words

• English sceptic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn