entheus Latin · revision 36599

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=4 BC–65 AD, Seneca|origins=grc ἔνθεος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɛn.tʰe.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛn.te.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''entheus''' (feminine enthea, neuter entheum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Some manuscripts of Augustine spell it ''ente-''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|ἔνθεος|tr=éntheos|t=possessed by a god, inspired]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) which Köbler analyses as [[m|grc|ἐν|tr=en|t=in]] and [[m|grc|θεός|tr=theós|t=god]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL's first examples are in Seneca's tragedies:^(TLL) in the ''Troades'' a maenad struck by the god frightens the woods with frenzied step.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lewis and Short call it a poetic word of the period after Augustus.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It means filled with a god, inspired or frenzied:^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Seneca uses it of a priestess of Phoebus shaking the laurel, Martial of a frenzied crowd, and Statius of Apollo's laurel, of a band crowned with ivy and, by transfer, of the dwelling of the Sibyl.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) In an active sense, filling with divine frenzy, Martial uses it of Cybele, the mother whose eunuch priest howls.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Firmicus Maternus applies it to seers and priests.^(TLL) Among Christian writers it comes close to “holy”, as in a passage of Augustine against Faustus.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a maenad and of a priestess of Phoebus.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of Cybele and of a frenzied crowd.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of the Sibyl's dwelling.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus uses it of seers.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of men thought holy.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|possessed|alt=Possessed]] by a god, divinely [[m|en|inspired]], [[m|en|frenzied]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # That fills with divine frenzy, inspiring.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Christian Latin)'' [[m|en|holy|alt=Holy]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary gives [[entheātus]] as a synonym.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}