infinitus Latin · revision 8002

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Varro|origins=la fīnis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ĩː.fiːˈniː.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iɱ.fiˈniː.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''īnfīnītus''' (feminine īnfīnīta, neuter īnfīnītum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[in-]] “not” and [[fīnītus]], the participle of [[fīniō]] “to bound”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Varro has ⟨infeineit-⟩, and the comparative is apparently found only in Cicero's ⟨Topica⟩.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Varro, of the indefinite and of grammar.^(OLD 2012) Köbler's first source is Cicero; he dates Varro 116–27 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant indefinite, in rhetoric ''quaestiō īnfīnīta'' a general question as opposed to a particular case, and in grammar indefinite, infinitive.^(OLD 2012) In Cicero it meant unlimited in scope, ''in īnfīnītum'' without limit, of power absolute, and boundless in space or time, as his definition that what has no end is infinite.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Cicero it meant very great, numberless, as in Lucretius, and of feelings boundless.^(OLD 2012) Isidore explains the infinitive as the mood that fixes the tense but not the person.^(Isidore)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant infinite.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for innumerable, very many.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Italian ''infinito'' and French ''infini'', and [[en|infinite]] came in the late 14th century.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the indefinite.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of countless things.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * late 14th century – English ''infinite'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Indefinite, ''quaestiō īnfīnīta'', a general question, ''(grammar)'' [[m|en|infinitive]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Unlimited; absolute.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Boundless, [[m|en|infinite]] in space or time; endless.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Countless, innumerable; immense.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Boundless, extreme.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[infīnītārius]]

+ * [[īnfīnītum]]

+ * [[īnfīnītēsimus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[īnfīnībilis]]

+ * [[īnfīnītās]]

+ * [[īnfīnītē]]

+ * [[īnfīnītiō]]

+ * [[īnfīnītīvus]]

+ * [[fīniō]]

+ * [[fīnis]]

+ * [[en|infinite]]

+ * [[en|infinity]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}