trinitas

Forms

trīnitās f (genitive trīnitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin trīnus + -tās, formed from the distributive numeral trīnī (“three each, three”).^[2][3][1] This goes back to the numeral trēs “three”,^[4] and de Vaan lists it among the derivatives of trēs, which he traces to Proto-Indo-European *treies (“three”).^[5]

Isidore of Seville explained the name as if it meant “three-unity”, because one whole is made of three.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Tertullian, both for a group of three in general and for the Christian Trinity.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The word is post-classical: besides Tertullian's general sense of a triad,^[2][8] it became the name of the three persons of God in one.^[2][9] The grammarian Priscian lists it with ternitas as a word for the number three.^[3] It appears in the first law of Justinian's Code^[2] and was glossed in Old High German with drinissa and in Old English with þriness.^[4]

In medieval Latin it kept both senses, a group of three and the Holy Trinity,^[10] and it passed through Old French trinite into English.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for a triad and for the Trinity.^[2][4]
• 6th century AD – Priscian names it beside ternitas as a word for the number three.^[3][4]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains it as a “three-in-oneness”.^[6][4]
• early 13th century – English borrows it, through Old French, as trinity.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The number three; a triad, a group of three.^[2][3][10]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The Trinity, the three persons in one God.^[2][9][12]

Related words

• English trinity

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b 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
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill