fortasse Latin · revision 18155

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la fors}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [fɔrˈtaːs.sɛ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [forˈtas.se]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fortāsse''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+ A by-form ''fortassis'' is rare and not in Caesar; it is found in Plautus, Cicero and Horace.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|forte|t=by chance]], the ablative of [[m|la|fors|t=chance]]; the ending is unclear, but de Vaan and the OLD think it continues ⟨*forte an sit⟩, “by chance it may be”, though the phonetics, especially the short final vowel, are hard to explain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) [[m|la|fors]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*forti-|t=luck]], perhaps from [[ine-pro|*bʰr̥-ti-|t=a bearing]], the root of [[m|la|ferō|t=to carry]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who asks ''an tū fortasse fuistī meae mātrī obstetrīx?'', “or were you perhaps my mother's midwife?”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Fortasse'' is “it may be, perhaps, possibly”, with the indicative, the subjunctive or an accusative and infinitive, and is sometimes ironic (Plautus: ''lūdis fortasse mē?'', “are you perhaps making fun of me?”).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) With numbers it is “about, approximately” (Plautus: she could be bought ''ad quadrāgintā fortasse … minīs'', “for about forty minae”).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “perhaps”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''an tū fortasse fuistī meae mātrī obstetrīx?''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''fortassis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|perhaps]], possibly, maybe.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # About, [[m|en|approximately]] (with numbers).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fors]]

+ * [[forsan]]

+ * [[forsit]]

+ * [[forsitan]]

+ * [[fortāssis]]

+ * [[forte]]

+ * [[fortuītō]]

+ * [[fortuītus]]

+ * [[fortūna]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}