velocitas

Forms

vēlōcitās f (genitive vēlōcitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from vēlōx (“swift”) with -tās.^[2][3][4] Etymonline calls the adjective of uncertain origin;^[5] de Vaan suggests it meant “wind-like”, from a noun ⟨*vē-lo-⟩ “wind”, Proto-Indo-European *h₂ueh₁-lo- (“wind”), from the root of Sanskrit वाति (vā́ti, “blows”) and Ancient Greek ἄησι (áēsi, “blows”), though Italic has no verb from this root.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sisenna has men who “competed in leaping and speed”;^[2] Köbler also gives Sisenna.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is swiftness or speed of movement, as Cicero's speed in running, and of things, as Curtius' quinquereme that stood out among the rest for speed, and of style, as Quintilian's slow, sluggish rhythm where speed is needed.^[2][3] It is speed of action, as Valerius Maximus' quickness of wit that saved a town, and in Pliny the Elder the quickness with which a poison such as aconite works.^[2]

Köbler finds it in the Bible, the Bavarian laws and Thomas Aquinas.^[4] English velocity is first recorded in the early 15th century, in Chauliac.^[5]

Timeline

• 120–67 BC – Sisenna of speed in contests.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of speed in running.^[3][4]
• 1st century AD – Curtius of a fast ship.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as velocity.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Swiftness, speed, velocity (of movement); rapidity (of style).^[2][3][1]
2. Speed (of action); quickness of effect.^[2]

Related words

• vēlōx
• celeritās
• pernīcitās
• English velocity

Usage notes

Döderlein sets citus and celer, mere quickness of motion, against vēlōx and pernīx, nimbleness from bodily strength;^[7] pernīcitās is agility in all movements, vēlōcitās especially speed in running, flying and swimming.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper