variabilis

Forms

variābilis (neuter variābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin variō + -bilis.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite Apuleius' On the World for changeable air, but Georges notes that the passage is now read vitiabili.^[2][4][3] Köbler's first source is the Horace commentator Acro.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word is post-Classical.^[2] Boethius uses it in his arithmetic and Cassiodorus in his work on the soul.^[3][6] In Medieval Latin it meant capable of change, mutable: Alcuin writes in 796 that the good and bad fortunes of this life are variable as light and darkness.^[7] Du Cange records it of a person who is not consistent with himself and answers now one thing, now another.^[8] In 15th-century music theory it was used of solmization syllables and hexachords that could be changed.^[9]

Italian variabile continues the Late Latin word.^[6]

Timeline

• 2nd century – The commentator Acro uses it in his notes on Horace.^[5][3]
• 796 – Alcuin uses it in a letter of the changing fortunes of life.^[7]
• 15th century – Ugolino of Orvieto uses it in music theory.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Changeable, variable.^[2][3][4][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) Liable to change, mutable.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of a person: inconsistent, changing their answers.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin, music) Of solmization syllables or hexachords: that can be changed.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c 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 du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b c Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz