Etymologically
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videlicet

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɪˈdeː.lɪ.kɛt][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [viˈdɛː.li.t͡ʃet][1]

Forms

vidēlicet (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is a contraction of ⟨vidēre licet⟩, “one may see”, from videō (“to see”) and licet (“it is allowed”), like scīlicet and īlicet.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨videō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”), and finds no certain cognates for ⟨licet⟩ outside Italic.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Plautus as its first author.[5] In the Stichus it still has its verbal force with an infinitive: vidēlicet parcum fuisse illum senem, “plainly that old man was stingy”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means “evidently, plainly”, as in Plautus' guess that the ship's captain has come to fetch the girl, and with a causal clause, as in Livy, the allies stayed loyal, evidently because they were justly ruled.[2] It is often ironic, “no doubt”: Cicero's would-be Attic orators, of course, get what they want.[2] As an explanatory particle it is “that is to say, namely”.[2] Lewis and Short compare it with scīlicet, confirming and completing what goes before.[3]

Church Latin glosses it “namely, plainly, evidently, manifestly”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in the sense “it is plain”.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero ironically and in the sense “namely”.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy with a causal clause.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. It is plain (that).[2]
  2. Evidently, plainly, clearly.[2][1][6]
  3. (ironic) Of course, no doubt.[2][1]
  4. That is to say, namely.[2][1][6]

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson