capacitas Latin · revision 7948

16 Oct 2026, 14:48 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)”
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cicero|origins=la capiō}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [kaˈpaː.kɪ.taːs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kaˈpaː.t͡ʃi.tas]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''capācitās''' ''f'' (genitive capācitātis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[capāx]] “roomy, able to hold” with the suffix [[-tās]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)^(Etymonline) The TLL suggests Cicero may have coined it.^(TLL)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The TLL and Lewis and Short cite Cicero's question whether there is a capacity in the mind into which things are poured.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant the ability to hold, capacity, size, as in Cicero, Vitruvius and Columella, a word Lewis and Short call rare.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Pliny the Elder it meant capacity for food, and it also meant power of comprehension.^(OLD 2012) In Gaius it meant in law the capacity to inherit.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant capacity, capability.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for legal ability and mental capacity.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Italian ''capacità'' and French ''capacité'', and Old French gave [[en|capacity]] in the early 15th century, “ability to contain”.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the mind's capacity.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of size.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of capacity to inherit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * early 15th century – English ''capacity'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # [[m|en|Capacity]], size; capacity for food; power of comprehension.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(law)'' Capacity to inherit.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[capāx]]
+ * [[capiō]]
+ * [[en|capacity]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}