saevitia Latin · revision 30744

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=190–159 BC, Terence|origins=ine-pro *seh₂i-uo-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sae̯ˈwɪ.ti.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [seˈvit.t͡si.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''saevitia''' ''f'' (genitive saevitiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Apuleius has a fifth-declension accusative ''saevitiem''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|saevus|-itia|t1=fierce, savage]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces the adjective to [[itc-pro|*saiwo-|t=savage]] and [[ine-pro|*seh₂i-uo-]], cognate with [[sga|sáeth|t=sorrow]], [[hit|šāi-|t=to become sullen, angry]], [[grc|αἰανής|tr=aianḗs|t=grievous]] and [[got|𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍂|tr=sair|t=pain]]; he suggests that the root “to rage, be in pain” may be the same as one meaning “to tie”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Terence, ''Eunuchus'', has it of savage conduct.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Saevitia'' is savagery of character or conduct, barbarity and cruelty, and in wild beasts ferocity (Quintilian: as birds are born to fly and horses to run, so beasts to savagery).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also the violence of storms and weather (Sallust: the ''saevitia'' of the season), the severity of diseases (Columella), the force of passions (Seneca: reason checks the savagery of fears), and the harshness of circumstances (Valerius Maximus).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Döderlein contrasts ''saevitia'', the bloodthirsty cruelty of a tyrant who acts like a beast of prey, the opposite of [[mānsuētūdō]], with [[crūdēlitās]], the reckless cruelty of a judge who enforces the law to the utmost, the opposite of [[clēmentia]].^(Döderlein 1874) Church Latin glosses it “fury, ferocity, harshness, cruelty, fierceness, severity”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence, its first recorded use.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust of the savagery of the season.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of the violence of fears.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of wild beasts.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Savagery, [[m|en|cruelty]], [[m|en|barbarity]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''(of animals)'' ferocity.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Violence (of storms, the sea, diseases).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Violence, intensity (of passions); [[m|en|rage]], fury.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Harshness, [[m|en|severity]] (of circumstances).^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[saeviō]]

+ * [[saevus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}