tenuitas Latin · revision 36174

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=ine-pro *tnh₂-(e)u-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tenuitās''' ''f'' (genitive tenuitātis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|tenuis|-tās|t1=thin]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan derives ⟨tenuis⟩ from [[itc-pro|*tn̥(a)u-]] and [[ine-pro|*tnh₂-(e)u-|t=thin]], an old ⟨u⟩-stem adjective remade as an ⟨i⟩-stem; he thinks the root may be an extended form of [[m|ine-pro|*ten-|t=to stretch]], though this cannot be proved.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sa|तनु|tr=tanú-|t=thin, slender]], [[grc|ταναός|tr=tanaós|t=thin, elongated]], [[sga|tanae|t=delicate, thin]] and [[goh|dunni|t=thin]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) whose speeches use it of poverty, together with low birth.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant thinness of many kinds:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Phaedrus writes of legs that are too thin, Vitruvius writes of plaster too thin to stand by itself, Cicero of people who like slimness, and Pliny the Elder of the fine mesh of a sieve.^(OLD 2012) Of air and sound it meant rarity or thinness, as in Cicero's thinness of the sky and Vitruvius' high-pitched sounds of the voice.^(OLD 2012) Cicero also uses it of the subtle nature of the soul.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ It meant scarcity, and especially lack of means, poverty or frugality: Cicero has the abundance or scarcity of crops, the poverty of the treasury, and the frugal living of Manius Curius.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) In criticism it meant subtlety of thought and a plain, unadorned style, as in Cicero's praise of Lysias.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) British medieval writers used it of the thinness of horn, fabric and feathers.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of poverty.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of slimness, of subtlety and of a plain style.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of thin plaster.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it of thin legs.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the fine mesh of a sieve.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|thinness|alt=Thinness]], [[m|en|slenderness]], fineness; leanness.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Rarefied quality (of air); thinness (of sound).^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|scarcity|alt=Scarcity]]; lack of means, [[m|en|poverty]]; [[m|en|frugality]].^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # Fineness of distinction, [[m|en|subtlety]].^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # Plainness, simplicity (of style).^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tenuis]]

+ * [[tenuō]]

+ * [[attenuō]]

+ * [[extenuō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}