supervacuus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [sʊ.pɛrˈwa.ku.ʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [su.perˈvaː.ku.us]^[1]

Forms

supervacuus (feminine supervacua, neuter supervacuum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from super- and vacuus “empty”, or from vacō “to be empty” with -uus.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Horace, and the OLD's earliest citations include Vitruvius and Horace.^[3][2] Köbler dates Horace 65–8 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant beyond what is needed, superfluous, redundant, as in Vitruvius, and serving no useful purpose, needless, as in Horace and Quintilian.^[2][4] Lewis & Short note it is not found before Augustus, while supervacāneus is the classical word, and Varro censured its use.^[5][2]

Medieval Latin used it for worthless, contemptible.^[6] English supervacuous is from it.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it.^[2][3]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.^[2][3]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it.^[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Superfluous, redundant.^[2][5]
2. Needless, useless.^[2][6]

Related words

• vacuus
• vacō
• supervacāneus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill