munditia Latin · revision 32713

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''munditia''' ''f'' (genitive munditiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ A fifth-declension form ''munditiēs'' is found in Catullus, Ovid and Gellius.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|mundus|-itia|t1=clean, neat]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan tentatively derives [[m|la|mundus]] from [[ine-pro|*mud-no-|t=happy]], from the root *meud- “to rejoice”, but finds the meaning not compelling.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in whose ''Menaechmi'' someone orders the couches spread and perfumes lit, for elegance is a lure to lovers' minds.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is cleanliness, and ''munditiās facere'' is to clean or tidy up, as in Cato.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Seneca says the aediles had to enter the baths and demand cleanliness.^(OLD 2012) More often it is elegance or refinement of appearance, manners or taste: Cicero wants an elegance that is not too exquisite, Sallust says Marius did not train himself in Greek eloquence or city refinements, and Horace calls Pyrrha simple in her elegance.^(OLD 2012) Of language it is purity: Cicero says a plain style will keep its elegance and its pure Latin speech.^(OLD 2012) In Church and medieval Latin it is also moral purity.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Stelten 1995) Wiktionary lists [[m|it|mondezza]] among its descendants.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of elegance as a lure.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of cleaning up.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of Pyrrha's simple elegance.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|cleanliness|alt=Cleanliness]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995) ''munditiās facere'', to clean up.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # [[m|en|elegance|alt=Elegance]], neatness, refinement of appearance, manners or taste.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Elegance or purity of language.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' Moral purity.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mundus#1|alt=mundus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}