astutia Latin · revision 33152

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [aːsˈtuː.ti.a], [asˈtuː.ti.a]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ā̆stūtia''' ''f'' (genitive ā̆stūtiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|astūtus|-ia|t1=cunning]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) That adjective comes from [[m|la|astus|t=craft]], of which Old Latin has only the ablative singular.^(de Vaan 2008) The Romans derived it from [[grc|ἄστυ|tr=ástu|t=town]], which Ernout and Meillet thought might be a play like [[m|la|urbānē|t=wittily]], though de Vaan finds the dates of attestation against this;^(de Vaan 2008) Vendryes derived it from a stem meaning “standing by”, from [[m|la|astō|t=to stand by]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) whose ''Epidicus'' has ''nunc ego hanc astūtiam īnstituī'', “now I have set up this trick”.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) An inscription from Falerii, of the 3rd or 2nd century BC, spells the ablative plural ''aastutieis''.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is cunning, craft or cleverness, and a cunning procedure, trick or stratagem.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short say it first meant dexterity or adroitness, as Pacuvius has of the cleverness of understanding that wild beasts lack for their protection.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The glosses equate it with ''calliditās'' and Greek words for knavery and cunning.^(TLL) In Church Latin it is also understanding or wisdom, as in the Vulgate's Proverbs, of giving shrewdness to the simple, and Stelten gives “subtlety, craftiness”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 220–130 BC – Pacuvius, of cleverness.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, of shrewdness given to the simple.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|cunning|alt=Cunning]], craft, cleverness, [[m|en|astuteness]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A cunning trick, [[m|en|stratagem]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' Understanding, wisdom; subtlety.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[astūtus]]

+ * [[astus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}