celeritas Latin · revision 30714

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=86/82 BC, Rhetorica ad Herennium|origins=ine-pro *kel-i-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kɛˈɫɛ.rɪ.taːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃeˈlɛː.ri.tas]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''celeritās''' ''f'' (genitive celeritātis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|celer|-tās|t1=swift]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|celer]] to [[itc-pro|*keli-]] and [[ine-pro|*kel-i-|t=speeding]], cognate with [[grc|κέλομαι|tr=kélomai|t=to urge on]] and [[m|grc|κέλης|tr=kélēs|t=racehorse]].^(de Vaan 2008) A Late Latin grammarian explained such nouns as formed from the dative, ⟨celerī⟩ → ⟨celeritās⟩.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'', which recommends the greatest speed (''maximā celeritāte'') in passages of amplification.^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012) The OLD's main citations for speed of movement are Cicero's: in the ''Topica'' the opposite of ''celeritās'' is slowness, not weakness.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is first the speed of a body or a thing (Cicero's ship of incredible speed under sail), then speed of action and dispatch, as in Cicero's ''hoc bellum indiget celeritātis'', “this war needs speed”.^(OLD 2012) It is used of the swift passing of time (a pain is made bearable by its brevity) and of quickness of mind, which Cicero says shows itself in replying.^(OLD 2012) In a bad sense it is excessive haste: Livy has a speaker say that nothing is so hostile to deliberation on a weighty matter as haste.^(OLD 2012) It can also mean earliness, as of a speedy return.^(OLD 2012) Cicero defines it as the bodily quality that is also praised in the mind, and Lewis & Short give [[vēlōcitās]] and [[pernīcitās]] as near-synonyms and [[tarditās]] as its opposite.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ''Celeritās'' also appears as a goddess in Martianus Capella.^(TLL) English ''celerity'' came through Old French in the late 15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 86/82 BC – ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' of speed in speaking.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of speed of movement, action and mind.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of rash haste.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 15th century – English [[m|en|celerity]], through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|speed]], swiftness, quickness of movement.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Speed of action, [[m|en|dispatch]]; quickness in passing.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Quickness of mind.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Excessive speed, [[m|en|haste]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Earliness, speediness (of an event).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[celer]]

+ * [[en|celerity]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}