activus Latin · revision 4021
15 Oct 2026, 20:51 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Seneca the Younger|origins=la agō}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [aːkˈtiː.wʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [akˈtiː.vus]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''āctīvus''' (feminine āctīva, neuter āctīvum, adverb āctīvē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[af|la|agō|-īvus|t1=to do, drive]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The grammatical sense is a semantic loan from [[grc|ἐνεργητικός|tr=energētikós]].^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Seneca the Younger writes that philosophy is both contemplative and active, and Quintilian uses it of the practical arts.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Köbler dates Seneca 4 BC–65 AD and Quintilian about 35–95/96 AD.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant practical or active, in contrast to contemplative or speculative, of philosophy and the arts.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The grammarians used it of active verbs, which express an action done to something else, opposed to passive.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Lactantius has an active element opposed to a passive one.^(Georges 1913)
+
+ Medieval writers used it of active forces opposed to passive ones in natural philosophy, and of the ''vita activa'', the active life, as opposed to the contemplative.^(MLW)^(DMLBS) English ''active'' is recorded from the mid-14th century, first of worldly activity as opposed to the monastic life.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca contrasts active and contemplative philosophy.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of practical arts.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * mid-14th century – English ''active'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # [[m|en|practical]], [[m|en|active]], concerned with action rather than contemplation.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # ''(grammar)'' Active.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Of the active life, ''vita activa''.^(MLW)^(DMLBS)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[āctīvē]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|active]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}