sophistria

Forms

sophistria f (genitive sophistriae); first declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σοφίστρια (sophístria, “female sophist”).^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jerome uses it in his version of Eusebius' Chronicle for a woman sophist.^[1][2][4]

Semantic evolution

Late Latin meant a female sophist by it.^[5][1] In medieval British Latin it was taken as the name of the art: specious argument or sophistry, and in the universities the study of disputing and solving sophisms, the stage of study of a sophister.^[5] Köbler records the sense “sophistry, deceit” from about 1300.^[3] Du Cange quotes a chronicle naming a treatise by Wyclif super Sophistria.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it for a woman sophist.^[1][3]
• c. 1300 – It is recorded in the sense “sophistry, deceit”.^[3]
• 1384 – Statutes of Canterbury College, Oxford, let scholars pass from grammar to the study of sophistry.^[5]
• 1443 – A booklist of Canterbury College names a common treatise on sophistry.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A female sophist.^[1][2][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) Specious argument, sophistry.^[5][3]
3. (Medieval Latin, academic) The study of disputing and solving sophisms, a stage of university study.^[5]

Usage notes

Medieval spellings include sophestria.^[5][3]

References

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