forsan Latin · revision 32498

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=ine-pro *bʰr-ti-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfɔr.san]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfɔr.san]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+ A form ''forsam'' is found in some manuscripts and an inscription of the 1st century AD.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a fusion of [[m|la|fors|t=chance]] and [[m|la|an|t=whether]], shortened from fors sit an, "it may be chance whether"; compare [[m|la|forsitan]].^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan traces [[m|la|fors]] to [[itc-pro|*forti-|t=luck]] and, with a question mark, to [[ine-pro|*bʰr-ti-|t=bearing, case]], from the root of [[m|la|ferō|t=to carry]], though Ernout and Meillet rejected that link.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL finds the first certain example in Lucretius, and a doubtful one in Terence.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means it may be, perhaps, with the subjunctive or the indicative: a speaker in Virgil tells his companions that perhaps one day it will be a joy to remember even this.^(OLD 2012) Horace and Statius also use it, and it can qualify a single word.^(OLD 2012) The grammarians call it poetic, and the TLL finds it mostly in poets down to the latest Latin, with the ''Bellum Africum'' among the few prose examples.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a hardship one may one day remember with joy.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|perhaps|alt=Perhaps]], [[m|en|perchance]], it may be.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fors]]

+ * [[forsitan]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It belongs with the other adverbs of doubt made from fors, [[forsitan]], [[fortasse]] and [[forte]].^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}