Etymologically
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virilitas

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Forms

virīlitās f (genitive virīlitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin virīlis (“of a man, manly”) + -tās.[2][1] The adjective is formed from vir (“man”), probably on its genitive ⟨virī⟩;[3] de Vaan traces ⟨vir⟩ to Proto-Italic *wiro- and Proto-Indo-European *wiH-ró- (“man, young man, warrior”).[3] Cognate with Umbrian uiro (“company of men”), Old Irish fer, Sanskrit वीर (vīrá-, “man, hero”) and Lithuanian výras (“man, husband”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from the Bellum Alexandrinum,[4] which speaks of restoring manhood to castrated men, exsectīs virīlitātem restituere.[2] Lewis and Short think it was perhaps not used before Augustus.[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is the state of being a sexually mature or potent man, manhood, as in Seneca, Pliny the Elder, Martial and Tacitus;[2][5] Columella and Pliny use it of animals too.[2][6] By metonymy it named the male genitals, in Pliny the Elder, Quintilian and Apuleius.[2][5] Lewis and Short and Georges also give the age of manhood for a passage of Pliny.[5][7]

Figuratively it meant manly quality of character and conduct: Valerius Maximus calls the custom of watching the games standing a mark of Roman manliness, and Quintilian says such manly vigour should be sought from the early writers.[2][5] English took virility from French in the 1580s, first for the period of manhood, then for the power of procreation (1590s) and manly strength (about 1600).[8]

Timeline

  • second half of the 1st century BC – The Bellum Alexandrinum uses it of manhood restored to castrated men.[2][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the male organ.[2][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of manly vigour.[2][4]
  • 1580s – English borrows virility through French.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Manhood, masculinity; the state of a sexually mature man.[2][5]
  2. (by metonymy) The male genitals.[2][5]
  3. Manly vigour of character or conduct.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b 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 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com