timiditas

Forms

timiditās f (genitive timiditātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin timidus (“fearful, timid”) + -tās.^[2][1][3] The adjective comes from timeō (“to fear”), whose origin is unclear: de Vaan finds the connection with words for “stiff” proposed by Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny hardly possible.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Pacuvius,^[4][5] in a line quoted by Nonius: ecfāre, quae cor tuom timiditās territet, “say what fear is terrifying your heart”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it a favourite word of Cicero,^[6] who lists it with dread, panic and cowardice,^[6] and remarks that timidity is born of things, not of words.^[6] In the plural it means signs or acts of cowardice, as in Cicero's speech for Milo.^[7][8][9] Suetonius also uses it.^[9] In Jerome it is the fear of God,^[9] and medieval writers in Britain use it as in Classical Latin.^[10] It lives on in timidité and timidità.^[1]

Timeline

• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it in a tragedy.^[4][5][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it often, also in the plural.^[6][7][5]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it in his life of Augustus.^[9][5]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of the fear of God.^[9][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Proneness to fear, timidity, fearfulness; cowardice.^[2][6][7]
2. (plural) Signs or acts of timidity or cowardice.^[2][7][9]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The fear of God.^[9]

Related words

• timidus
• timeō
• timor

References

1. ^ a b c 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. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
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