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unitas

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈuː.nɪ.taːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈuː.ni.tas][1]

Forms

ūnitās f (genitive ūnitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from ūnus “one” with the suffix -tās.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Varro, of sharing a common nature.[2] Köbler also starts with Varro, whom he dates 116–27 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the quality of being one in number, as Gellius' singulāris numerī ūnitās, and of being an undivided whole, unity, as in Pliny.[2][3] In Seneca it meant oneness of mind or action, and in Varro the sharing of a common nature.[2] In Celsus it meant forming a uniform whole, in ūnitātem coīre “to unite”, and in Columella sameness of appearance.[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant unity.[6] Medieval Latin used it of spiritual union, the unity of the Church, and concord.[7] English unity came about 1300 through Anglo-French, and English unit in the 1560s as an alteration of unity.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a common nature.[2][4]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of a uniform whole.[2][4]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of the singular number.[3][4]
  • c. 1300 – English unity is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Oneness in number.[2]
  2. Unity; oneness of mind; a common nature.[2]
  3. A uniform whole; sameness.[2]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The unity of the Church; concord.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com