summatim

Forms

summātim (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin summa (“total, main point”) + -ātim,^[1][2] which the OLD derives from summus (“highest”) with the adverb ending.^[3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of ⟨summus⟩, which goes back to Proto-Italic *sup(a)mo- (“highest”); he weighs a superlative formation, as the Indo-Iranian cognates suggest, against a form without the middle vowel.^[4] Cognate with Umbrian sume (“upper”), Sanskrit उपम (upamá-, “upmost, highest, closest”) and Ancient Greek ὕπατος (húpatos, “highest”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucilius,^[4] who writes that he will try to reply summarily in a few words.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It means summarily, keeping only to the main points:^[3][6] the Rhetorica ad Herennium contrasts it with particulatim, “point by point”, Cicero writes a letter summarily because the matter needs a longer account, and Varro runs through husbandry briefly and summarily.^[3][6] Suetonius has summatim breviterque componere of Tiberius writing a short account of his life.^[6][7] From this came superficially: Seneca says an animal understands its own nature dimly and superficially, and Suetonius that Augustus touched on poetry only lightly.^[3][6]

Columella uses it in a physical sense, of scraping a root at the surface or loosening the soil round a vine.^[3][7] Ecclesiastical Latin used it for briefly or in general,^[8] and British medieval writers for in outline, on the surface and all at once.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of replying summarily.^[3][2]
• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium contrasts it with particulatim.^[3][2]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of writing summarily.^[3][2]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of scraping at the surface.^[3][2]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of superficial understanding.^[3][2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. With attention only to the main points, summarily, briefly.^[3][6]
2. Without depth, superficially.^[3][5]
3. At the surface.^[3][7]

Related words

• summa
• summus
• generātim

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ 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