Etymologically
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viritim

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Forms

virītim (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from vir (“man”) with the adverbial suffix -tim.[2][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of vir, which he traces to Proto-Italic *wiro- and Proto-Indo-European *wiH-ró- (“man, young man, warrior”), comparing Umbrian uiro (“company of men”), Sanskrit वीर (vīrá-, “man, hero”) and Lithuanian výras (“man, husband”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] who says in the Pseudolus that a disgraceful deed could have been shared out to the whole people man by man.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is said of what reaches each person singly, man by man, and of the share each receives: Festus quotes Cato on booty divided this way, and Lucretius speaks of the smaller amount of land given to each man in earlier times.[4][2] It also means as individuals rather than as a body, as in Varro on magistrates who have no power to summon individuals.[2] Lewis & Short note that it is used with distributive numerals, never with cardinals.[4] In Medieval Latin, taken as “manfully”, it meant vehemently or courageously.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of sharing out man by man.[2][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of booty divided among the men.[4][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of land per man.[2][6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Man by man, to each separately; per man.[2][4][7][1]
  2. As individuals, individually.[2][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Vehemently; courageously.[5]

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 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson