umiditas

Forms

ūmiditās f (genitive ūmiditātis); third declension^[1] Also spelled ⟨hūmiditās⟩, the form under which Gaffiot, Niermeyer and the MLW enter it.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ūmidus (“moist, wet”) + -tās.^[5][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of ūmeō (“to be wet”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *ūmo- (“wet”) and Proto-Indo-European *uh₁-mo- (“wet”).^[6] Wiktionary derives the spelling with ⟨h⟩ likewise from ⟨hūmidus⟩.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's only quotation is from Plautus' Mostellaria, where beams rot with moisture; the manuscripts there have the adverb umide, and Conte marks the reading as a conjecture.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Wiktionary labels it Late Latin.^[1] Augustine uses it, and so does Eustathius' translation of Basil's Hexaemeron.^[7][2]

It became a common word of medieval natural philosophy and medicine for moistness and for the moist humours of the body.^[4][3][8] Constantine the African and the Trotula use it in medicine,^[4] Adelard of Bath says that the intellect thrives by moisture and memory by dryness, and Bartholomaeus Anglicus defines it as a passive elemental quality that nourishes and preserves all bodies.^[8] An English synod of about 1245 warns that the Eucharist kept too long may take on damp or mould.^[8] English humidity came from it through Old French in the late 14th century.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – An emended line of Plautus has it of rotting beams.^[5][7][10]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it.^[7][10]
• c. 400 AD – Eustathius uses it in his translation of the Hexaemeron.^[2][10]
• 1020–1087 – Constantine the African uses it in medicine.^[4][10]
• c. 1245 – An English synod warns that the Eucharist may grow damp.^[8]
• late 14th century – English humidity is recorded, through Old French.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Moisture, dampness.^[5][1][7][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Wetness, moistness, as one of the elemental qualities.^[8][4][3]
3. (Medieval Latin, medicine) A liquid or humour of the body.^[4][8]

Related words

• ūmeō
• ūmor
• English humidity

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de