Etymologically
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serietas

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Forms

sēriĕtās f (genitive sēriĕtātis); third declension[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin sērius (“serious, earnest”) + -tās,[1][2] an abstract noun of Late Latin.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Ausonius, in the Parentalia,[1][2][3] meaning seriousness or an earnest, grave manner.[1][5]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare in antiquity: besides Ausonius, the dictionaries cite only Sidonius Apollinaris.[1][2][6]

Medieval writers used it more often.[7][4] Niermeyer glosses it as a dignified bearing,[7] and the DMLBS has the general sense of gravity or earnestness, with examples from Bede and William of Malmesbury, as well as a grave subject or serious matter.[4] Du Cange defines it as the weighing of serious things, or gravity.[8] It is the source of Italian serietà.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses it in the Parentalia for an earnest, serious manner.[1][3]
  • c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it in his poems.[1][3]
  • Middle Ages – British writers use it for gravity and for a serious matter.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Seriousness, gravity, earnestness.[1][2][5]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A dignified bearing.[7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A grave subject, a serious matter.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e 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
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre