mendax Latin · revision 31498

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmɛn.daːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmɛn.daks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mendāx''' (genitive mendācis, comparative mendācior, superlative mendācissimus, adverb mendāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Plautus has an ablative singular ''mendāce''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The OLD forms it from [[mendum|t=fault, blemish]] with the suffix [[m|la|-āx]];^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary takes the first sense to have been “faulty”, turned to “deceitful” under the influence of [[mentior|t=to lie]],^(Wiktionary) from which Lewis and Short derive it directly.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler gives both explanations.^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan reconstructs ⟨mendum⟩ as [[itc-pro|*m(e)ndo-]], cognate with [[sga|mennar|t=blemish]], but calls any further derivation merely theoretical.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) where someone is told “let them call you a liar, untruthful, with no good faith”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is prone to tell falsehoods, untruthful, and lying on a given occasion, as Plautus' “so that he may not lie to me”;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero notes that we do not believe a liar even when he tells the truth.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of reports and dreams it is false, as Cicero's minds stirred by false and lying visions, and of things it is deceptive, as Horace's farm that fails its owner's hopes.^(OLD 2012) It is also that which falsely pretends to be something, as Catullus' false pregnancy.^(OLD 2012) As a noun it is a liar.^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “false, deceitful, unreliable, prone to lying”.^(Stelten 1995) English ''mendacious'' is from its derivative ''mendācium'' “lie” in the 1610s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of lying visions.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of a false pregnancy.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of a deceptive farm.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Given to lying, untruthful, [[m|en|mendacious]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Of reports or dreams, false.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Deceptive, giving a false impression.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Falsely pretending to be.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|liar]].^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mendācitās]]

+ * [[mendācium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mendum]]

+ * [[mentior]]

+ * [[en|mendacious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}