vecordia

Forms

vēcordia f (genitive vēcordiae); first declension^[1] It is also spelled vaecordia.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin vēcors (“senseless, mad”) + -ia.^[2][1] vēcors is a compound of the prefix vē- and cor (“heart”),^[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kord and Proto-Indo-European *ḱērd (“heart”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Terence,^[3][4] whose Andria asks whether such madness can be inborn in anyone: tanta vecordia innata cuiquam.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a disordered state of mind, derangement or frenzy,^[2] want of reason, senselessness, folly or madness:^[5] Sallust says madness showed in a man's face and expression, and Tacitus speaks of pursuits full of folly.^[5] Lewis & Short note that Cicero does not use it.^[5] In Church Latin it is foolishness or folly.^[6]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence, of inborn madness.^[5][3][4]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust, of madness in a man's face.^[5][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of senseless pursuits.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Madness, derangement, frenzy.^[2][5][1]
2. Senselessness, folly.^[5][6]

Related words

• vēcors
• cor
• sōcordia

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson