incredibiliter Latin · revision 36918

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *ḱred-dʰeh₁-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''incrēdibiliter''' (comparative incrēdibilius)^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|incrēdibilis|-ter|t1=incredible]].^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) The adjective is the negative of [[m|la|crēdibilis|t=believable]], made from [[m|la|crēdō|t=to believe]], which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*krezde/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*ḱred-dʰeh₁-|t=to place in the heart, believe]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[cy|credu|t=to believe]] and [[sa|श्रद्धा|tr=śraddhā́-|t=confidence, devotion]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cicero is its first author.^(Köbler 2010) In the ''Philippics'' he speaks of the will of the whole Roman people agreeing to an extraordinary degree, ''incrēdibiliter cōnsentientem populī Rōmānī ūniversī voluntātem'', and in a letter to Atticus he writes that someone was incredibly frightened, ''incrēdibiliter pertimuit''.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the literal sense, in a way that is hard to believe,^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) it was mostly used as an intensifier, to an extraordinary degree: so in Cicero, in the ''Bellum Africum'' of soldiers scattering, and in Tacitus' ''Dialogus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Augustine has the comparative ''incrēdibilius''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In British Medieval Latin it kept both the literal and the weakened sense.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it to mean “to an extraordinary degree”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it in the ''Dialogus''.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the comparative ''incrēdibilius''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In a way that is hard to believe, [[m|en|incredibly]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # To an extraordinary degree, [[m|en|extraordinarily]].^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[incrēdibilis]]

+ * [[crēdibiliter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}