facetia Latin · revision 4599

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la facētus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [faˈkeː.ti.a]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''facētia''' ''f'' (genitive facētiae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|facētus|-ia|t1=witty, elegant]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Etymonline calls ''facētus'' of unknown origin, perhaps related to [[fax|alt=facis]] “torch”, which de Vaan considers morphologically difficult.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus, in the Stichus, has a character say it is a fine joke for two rivals to love each other.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is mostly used in the plural ''facētiae''; the singular is ante- and post-classical, in Plautus, Gellius and Apuleius.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Its first sense was cleverness, a clever act, as Plautus says someone's heart is full of tricks, and then cleverness of expression.^(OLD 2012) In Cicero it was wit, which he divides into two kinds, ''facētiae'' and [[dicacitas|alt=dicācitās]], and a joke or witticism.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein counts ''facētiae'' with [[lepos]] and [[festivitas|alt=fēstīvitās]] as harmless wit.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In medieval Latin it also meant courtesy.^(Niermeyer 1976) British writers used it of wittiness and witty remarks.^(DMLBS) [[en|facetious]] is recorded in the 1590s, through French ''facétie'' “a joke”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the singular of a joke.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the plural of wit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses the singular.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1590s – English ''facetious'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Cleverness; a clever act.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|Wit]], humour; a jest, witticism.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|Courtesy]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[facetior]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[facetus|alt=facētus]]

+ * [[en|facetious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}