caa a22 4500 386310602 CHVBK 20180307111544.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e198812 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1017/S0263675100004002 doi S0263675100004002 pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.1017/S0263675100004002 Hill Joyce The University of Leeds Ælfric's use of etymologies [Elektronische Daten] [Joyce Hill] Augustine, Jerome, Bede, Gregory, Smaragdus and Haymo, the exegetical authorities acknowledged by Ælfric in the Latin preface to the Catholic Homilies, frequently used etymologies as one of their techniques for penetrating the words of the biblical text in order to arrive at their spiritual essence. To the modern student of language their interpretations often seem arbitrary, even bizarre, but the idea that there was an intimate connection between the signifying name and the person, place or thing signified was well established within the scriptural canon and was extended and confirmed by the cumulative authority of the exegetes themselves. It was Isidore of Seville, in his Etymologies, who provided the most systematic definition of this tradition of etymologizing. As he explained it, it was a method for determining the true essence of the thing designated by the process of penetrating its appellation, since all things and all activities which were named ‘secundum naturam' (as opposed to those arbitrarily named ‘secundum placitum') were designated by those words which had etymologies enshrining the very quality or idea so designated. Given this definition, with its underlying philosophical and linguistic assumptions, it is easy to understand why etymologies were exploited in Christian exegesis and teaching. It was accepted that biblical names were in the category ‘secundum naturam' since they were God-given or at least divinely sanctioned, and the rationale and method of their penetration had the advantage of harmonizing closely with the general interpretative process that was employed. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988 Anglo-Saxon England Cambridge University Press 17(1988-12), 35-44 0263-6751 17<35 1988 17 ASE https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263675100004002 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263675100004002 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Hill Joyce The University of Leeds NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Anglo-Saxon England Cambridge University Press 17(1988-12), 35-44 0263-6751 17<35 1988 17 ASE CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge