virilis

Forms

virīlis (neuter virīle, comparative virīlior, superlative virīlissimus, adverb virīliter); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from vir (“man”) with the suffix -īlis.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨vir⟩ to Proto-Italic *wiro- and Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós (“man, young man, warrior”), cognate with Old Irish fer (“man”), Sanskrit वीर (vīrá-, “man, hero”), Lithuanian výras (“man, husband”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂 (wair, “man”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author.^[3] In the Menaechmi it is right to hand out women's clothes to a woman and men's (virīle) to a man.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is what belongs to men as opposed to women, pars virīlis the male organs (Lucretius), and what belongs to a husband (Statius).^[2] It is male in sex, as Plautus' “I never had any male child”, and in grammar masculine (Varro).^[2] It is what belongs to a grown man, not a boy, above all the toga virīlis assumed on coming of age, and what is worthy of a true man, manly, as Terence's “prepare yourself with a manly spirit”.^[2][4] Pars virīlis is also each person's due share, as the soldiers' share of glory in Livy, and prō virīlī parte means “to the best of one's ability”.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “manly, male, virile”.^[5] In medieval law it was used of a man's oath of clearance, in proportion to his wergeld.^[6] English virile (late 15th century) comes from it, partly through Old French.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of men's clothes and male children.^[2][3][8]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of manly spirit.^[2][8]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the male organs.^[2][8]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of each man's share.^[2][8]
• late 15th century – English virile.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a man or men, male, pars virīlis, the male organs; of a husband.^[2][1][4]
2. Male (in sex); (grammar) masculine.^[2][1]
3. Of a grown man, toga virīlis, the toga of manhood.^[2][1]
4. Manly, virile.^[2][1][5]
5. pars virīlis, one's due share, prō virīlī parte, to the best of one's ability.^[2]

Related words

• vir
• virtūs
• muliebris
• English virile

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de