usualis

Forms

ūsuālis (neuter ūsuāle, adverb ūsuāliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ūsus (“use”) + -ālis.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The jurist Marcianus uses it in the Digest of slaves kept for use.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it came to mean usual or ordinary: Sidonius speaks of usualis sermo, everyday speech, and Ambrose also has it.^[4][2][5] Gregory the Great calls silver for ordinary, not sacred, use usuale argentum,^[5] and Cassiodorus has the adverb ūsuāliter.^[4]

In medieval Latin it described money in circulation and land or goods subject to customary dues, and the neuter usuale named a rule of customary law or a right of easement.^[6] English writers of the Exchequer used it of horses in use and of coins that had already circulated.^[3] French usuel and English usual come from it.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 3rd century AD – Marcianus uses it in the Digest of slaves kept for use.^[4][7]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius speaks of everyday speech as usualis sermo.^[4][2][7]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses the adverb usualiter.^[4][7]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as usual, partly through French.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. For use, in service; fit for use.^[4][6][5]
2. Usual, ordinary, customary.^[4][2][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Current, in circulation (of money).^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin) Subject to customary dues.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin, neuter as a noun) A rule of customary law; a right of easement.^[6]

Word family

• ūsuāliter

Related words

• English usual

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com