ecce hoc

Latin

Etymology

From ecce (“behold, voilà”) +‎ hoc (“this”). Found beginning in the fourth century CE, notably in Augustine.

Pronoun

ecce hoc (Late Latin)

1. this (emphatic)
   • 354 CE – 430 CE, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, In Psalmum 25 enarratio 2 (sermo ad plebem) :

     Et ecce hoc est deponere veterem hominem, et induere novum: Quapropter, deponentes mendacium, loquimini veritatem, unusquisque cum proximo suo: quia sumus invicem membra.

     And this is to shed the old self and put on the new self. Therefore, as you put away lying, speak the truth, each to your neighbour, for we are members (of one body) to each other (Ephesians 4:25).

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: ciò
  • Sicilian: zò, ⇒ zoccu
• North Italian:
  • Old Piedmontese: çò, ço
    • Piedmontese: sò, so
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Old Franco-Provençal: ço, cen, czo
    • Franco-Provençal: sen, soc, çou
  • Oïl:
    • Franc-Comtois: çou
    • Lorrain: ço, cho (Barrois)
    • Old Bourguignon: ceu
      • Bourguignon: çou
    • Old French: ço, ce, cen, ceo
      • French: ce
    • Old Northern French: cho, chou, che
      • Norman: chou, chen
      • Picard: chou, chau, chin, jou
      • Walloon: çou
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Old Catalan: ço, açò
    • Catalan: ço, açò
  • Old Occitan: ço, czo
    • Occitan: çò, ce

See also

• ecce hīc
• *eccum hoc

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “hŏc”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 4: G H I, page 442