Etymologically
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syllogismus

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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

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