tantummodo

Forms

tantummodo (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tantum (“so much; only”) + modo (“only”).^[1][2] The adverb modo is a derivative of modus (“measure”),^[3] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *medo- (“measure, judgement”) and Proto-Indo-European *med-o- (“measure”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero,^[2] who says that people commonly measure the year only by the return of the sun.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It means only or merely;^[4] Lewis & Short note that it is frequent and Classical, whereas solummodo is only post-Augustan.^[4] Caesar uses it of foot soldiers who stood out of the water only with their shoulders, and Horace has “you have only to wish it”.^[4] With a negative and sed it means “not only … but”, as in Cicero and Livy.^[4] Church Latin glosses it “only, merely, alone”,^[5] and Köbler records it in medieval law codes and charters.^[2]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of measuring the year only by the sun.^[4][2]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of soldiers standing out of the water.^[4][2]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of having only to wish.^[4][2]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy in “not only … but”.^[4][2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Only, merely;^[4][5][1] nōn tantummodo … sed, not only … but.^[4][5][1]

Related words

• tantum
• modo
• solummodo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson