syllogismus

Forms

syllogismus m (genitive syllogismī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek συλλογισμός (sullogismós, “inference, conclusion”),^[2][3][1] from συλλογίζομαι (sullogízomai, “to compute, conclude”).^[4] Isidore of Seville gives Latin argūmentātiō as its Latin name.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Seneca uses it in his Letters, and Köbler dates him 4 BC–65 AD.^[6][7] Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan.^[8]

Semantic evolution

It was a syllogism in Aristotelian logic, reasoning that draws a conclusion from two premises.^[2][8] Quintilian discusses it and calls the rhetorical syllogism an enthymeme, and Pliny the Younger and Gellius use it.^[9][8]

Medieval logicians distinguished kinds of syllogism by form, among them the syllogismus cornutus, the horned dilemma.^[10] English syllogism is recorded in the late 14th century, through Old French silogisme.^[4]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it in his Letters.^[6][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian discusses it.^[8][7]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it.^[8][7]
• late 14th century – English syllogism is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (logic) A syllogism.^[2][8]

Word family

• syllogismaticus

Related words

• English syllogism

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
10. ^ 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