transitivus

Forms

trānsitīvus (feminine trānsitīva, neuter trānsitīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin trānseō (“to go across”) + -īvus, according to Wiktionary, Georges and Gaffiot;^[1][2][3] L&S derives it from the noun trānsitiō.^[4] The verb is formed with trāns- on eō¹ (“to go”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ei- (“to go”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a grammarians' word:^[6] Priscian (6th century AD) calls a verb transitivum when its action passes over to an object, the opposite of intransitivus.^[4][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Outside grammar it is rare in antiquity.^[6] In medieval Latin it also meant “changeable”, “transferable” and “passing, transitory”,^[7] and Thomas Aquinas uses it of what passes over or passes away, as opposed to what remains.^[8] The grammatical sense lived on in medieval grammar and logic^[7] and passed into the Romance languages, as in French transitif and Italian transitivo.^[1]

Timeline

• 6th century AD – Priscian uses it of transitive verbs.^[4][2][6]
• medieval – British writers use it for “transferable” and “transitory”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Passing over.^[4][1]
2. (grammar) transitive, of a verb whose action passes to an object.^[4][2][3]
3. (Medieval Latin) Changeable; transferable.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Transitory, passing away.^[7][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e 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
8. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh