Etymologically
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similiter

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Forms

similiter (comparative similius, superlative simillimē); adverb[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin similis (“like”) + -ter.[1][2] De Vaan traces similis to Proto-Italic *semali- (“alike, together”) and Proto-Indo-European *sm̥h₂-el-i-, comparing Old Irish samail (“similar”) and Ancient Greek ὁμαλός (homalós, “equal, level”).[3] Lewis & Short note an older form of the adverb, simulter, in Plautus.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotation is in Plautus: in the Menaechmi a man asks whether his imitation is at all lifelike.[1][4]

Semantic evolution

It means in a similar way, as before or as elsewhere: the Rhetorica ad Herennium asks whether anything has been written or judged in the same way in different matters.[1] Of things compared with each other it is alike: Varro has things that all correspond to one another alike.[1] With a dative or a comparison it is in the same way as: Vitruvius says the rest are to be explained like these.[1] Of imitation and portraiture it is with close likeness, lifelike.[1] Cicero uses it of word endings that sound alike.[4] Köbler dates it from Cicero.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a lifelike imitation.[1][4][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of forms that correspond alike.[1][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of endings that sound alike.[4][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius with the dative.[1][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. In a similar way, likewise, alike.[1][4][2]
  2. In the same way as (with dative or ac, atque, ut).[1][4]
  3. With close resemblance, lifelike.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b 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 e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de