Etymologically
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simulacrum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [sɪ.mʊˈɫaː.krũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [si.muˈlaː.krum][1]

Forms

simulācrum n (genitive simulācrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from simulō “to make like” with the instrument suffix -crum, a dissimilated form of ⟨*simulāclom⟩.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a likeness.[2] Köbler's first source is Cicero; he dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a likeness, as in Plautus, and in Cicero a picture or image, as nōn animōrum simulācra sed corporum “likenesses not of minds but of bodies”, and especially a statue of a god.[2][5] The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of an image in the mind or a dream, and Lucretius of the films that bodies give off.[2][6] In Cicero it meant a mere show, as simulācrum pugnae “a sham fight”, and a pale copy of a quality.[2] Döderlein explains that imāgō resembles its original closely, while simulācrum is a substitute for it.[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant an idol, a likeness, an image.[8] British Medieval Latin had per simulācrum “in the likeness of”, as of the Holy Spirit as a dove.[9] It was borrowed into French simulacre and Spanish simulacro, and gave English simulacrum in the 1590s.[1][3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a likeness.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a statue and of a sham fight.[2][4]
  • 1590s – English simulacrum is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A likeness.[2]
  2. An image; a statue, especially of a god.[2]
  3. An image in the mind; a phantom.[2]
  4. A sham, simulācrum pugnae, a mock fight.[2]
  5. A pale copy.[2]
  6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An idol.[8]

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from imāgō.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ 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