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sollertia

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word sollertia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (sollus,ars)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sollus
Latin sollemnis
Latin sollers
Latin sollertia
Latin sollerter

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sɔlˈlɛr.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [solˈlɛr.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

sollertia f (genitive sollertiae); first declension[1] It is also spelled sōlertia.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin sollers (“clever, skilled”) + -ia.[2][1] De Vaan derives sollers from Proto-Italic *soll-arti-, a compound of sollus (“whole”) and ars (“skill”): wholly skilled.[4] sollus goes back to Proto-Italic *solno- (“whole”), compare Oscan sullus (“all”), and ars to Proto-Indo-European *h₂r-tí- (“the fitting”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Cicero,[5] who says that some animals have a kind of contrivance and cleverness, and that no art can imitate the skill of nature.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means resourcefulness, cleverness or skill in contriving: Cicero credits the Chaldeans with keenness of mind, and Caesar calls the Gauls a people of the greatest ingenuity.[3][2] With a genitive it is adroitness in doing something, as Cicero's skill in judging.[3] It can also be an ingenious plan, as in Tacitus, and in Cicero's De officiis a sharp subtlety that should be avoided.[3] Church Latin glosses it cleverness, ingenuity and skill.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the cleverness of animals and of nature.[3][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of the ingenuity of the Gauls.[3][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of an ingenious plan.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Cleverness, ingenuity, skill, resourcefulness.[2][3][6][1]
  2. Dexterity, adroitness in doing something.[3][1]
  3. An ingenious plan; subtlety.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Sollertia.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/sollertia. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·