theoreticus

Forms

theōrēticus (feminine theōrētica, neuter theōrēticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek θεωρητικός (theōrētikós, “contemplative, speculative”),^[2][3][4] which Köbler relates to θεωρός (theōrós, “spectator”) and θέα (théa, “a looking at”).^[3] The English word theoretical was formed on it.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ambrose is the first author to use it,^[3] in his Hexameron, meaning “contemplative, speculative”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It was the learned counterpart of the native contemplātīvus, and the opposite of practicus “practical”.^[2][5] Fulgentius used it too.^[2][5] In medieval Latin it kept the sense “contemplative”,^[6] and Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for “theoretical”, with the adverb theōrēticē.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it in the Hexameron.^[2][3]
• c. 500 AD – Fulgentius uses it in the Mythologies.^[2][3]
• 1610s – English forms theoretical on it, at first meaning “contemplative”.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Contemplative, speculative, as opposed to practical.^[2][5][8]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Theoretical.^[7]

Related words

• English theoretical

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.