vicinitas

Forms

vīcīnitās f (genitive vīcīnitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vīcīnus (“neighbouring”) + -tās,^[2][1] and vīcīnus is formed from vīcus (“village, quarter”).^[1][3] De Vaan traces vīcus to Proto-Italic *weik-o- (“settlement”) and Proto-Indo-European *ueiḱ- (“settlement”).^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”), Sanskrit विश् (víś-, “settlement, people”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 (weihs, “village”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest examples in the OLD are in Cato the Elder, who says that if the neighbourhood sees the farmer gladly he will sell his produce more easily, and in Terence, where a man's nearness as a neighbour makes another bold to advise him.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it means the fact of being neighbours, nearness, then the area around a place, and the community of people living as neighbours.^[2][5] Cicero uses it figuratively for a near relation between things, the neighbourliness of the arts.^[2]

In medieval Latin it named a neighbourhood or region, a subdivision of a pagus, the right of common use of land, and citizenship.^[6] English took it through French as vicinity in the 1550s.^[7]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder of a farmer's neighbours.^[2][3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of being neighbours.^[2][5][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of the land around a farm.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the near kinship of the arts.^[2][3]
• 1550s – Borrowed into English as vicinity.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The fact of being neighbours, nearness, proximity.^[2][5][1]
2. The land around a place, neighbourhood, vicinity.^[2][5][1]
3. A community of neighbours.^[2]
4. (figurative) A near relation, similarity.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) A region, subdivision of a pagus; the right of common use of land; citizenship.^[6]

Related words

• vīcīna
• vīcīnālis
• vīcīnē
• vīcīnia
• vīcīnor
• vīcīnus
• vīcus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com