dumtaxat Latin · revision 31391

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *th₂-n-g-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [dʊnˈtak.sat]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [dunˈtak.sat]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+ It is also spelled ''duntaxat'';^(Lewis & Short 1879) it is often written separately or split by other words, as ''dum … taxat'', and Lewis and Short think pre-Augustan monuments always wrote it so.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|dum|t=while, as long as]] and ⟨taxat⟩, probably a subjunctive of an old verb ⟨*taxō⟩ from [[m|la|tangō|t=to touch]], like [[m|la|vīsō|t=to visit]] beside ⟨videō⟩; so roughly “as far as it touches”.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan sees in it, together with [[m|la|taxō|t=to assess]], an old s-present of ⟨tangō⟩, preserved in this fixed expression; the verb goes back to [[ine-pro|*th₂-n-g-|t=to touch]].^(de Vaan 2008) The TLL suggests that ⟨taxat⟩ meant “touches in any part” or arose from a blend of subjunctive and indicative forms.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler gives Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who has “I will have food bought for a mina at most” in the ''Truculentus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is first up to a maximum, not exceeding, at most, as in Plautus, and in Vitruvius not less than or at least.^(OLD 2012) Limiting an action it is no more than, only or just, as Cato's “the owner shall only fell the timber”, and so far, up to a point, as Cicero's “let them be thought sound and dry, but only as athletes are”;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) ''nōn dumtaxat … sed'' is not only … but also, as in Livy.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Introducing a condition it is provided that or as long as, as in Cato, and marking the least that holds it is at any rate, as Cicero's “Athens delighted me, at least the city and its ornaments”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “insofar as, only, to this extent”,^(Stelten 1995) and medieval Latin also uses it as “at least, that is to say, to be sure” and “namely”.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a limit of one mina.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of limits and conditions.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of “at least”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy: ''nōn dumtaxat … sed''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Up to, not exceeding, at most; not less than.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Only, [[m|en|merely]], just; up to a point;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''nōn dumtaxat … sed'', not only … but also.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Provided that, as long as.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # At any rate, at least.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' That is to say, [[m|en|namely]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dum]]

+ * [[tangō]]

+ * [[taxō]]

+ * [[sōlum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}