comparatio Latin · revision 7298
16 Oct 2026, 13:38 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)”
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Rhetorica ad Herennium}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [kɔm.paˈraː.ti.oː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kom.paˈrat.t͡si.o]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''comparātiō''' ''f'' (genitive comparātiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[comparō]] “to match, compare” with the suffix [[-tiō]], and is also spelled ⟨conp-⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The TLL says it is read from the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'', and the OLD's earliest citation for a rhetorical argument is from it.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates it 86/82 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a comparison, a weighing of relative merits, and in rhetoric an argument from the more probable of two actions, or a plea of justification by a greater good.^(OLD 2012) ''Comparātiōne'' or ''in comparātiōnem'' meant in comparison with, as in Livy.^(OLD 2012) In Quintilian it meant the comparative degree, and in Cicero a relationship of position, and ''comparātiō prō portiōne'' proportion.^(OLD 2012) The TLL notes it is rare in the poets.^(TLL)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant comparison.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin used it of comparison in grammar and of a simile.^(DMLBS) Through Old French ''comparaison'' it gave [[en|comparison]] in the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 86/82 BC – The ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' uses it of a rhetorical argument.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of proportion.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of the comparative.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * mid-14th century – English ''comparison'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # [[m|en|Comparison]], ''comparātiōne'', in comparison with.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(rhetoric)'' An argument from the more probable.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(grammar)'' The comparative degree.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Relationship; proportion.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[comparō]]
+ * [[en|comparison]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ A different ''comparātiō'', from ''comparō'' “to prepare”, meant preparation, procuring, building and arrangement, as Cicero's ''novī bellī comparātiō'' “preparation of a new war”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}