lection

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French lectiun, also lection,^[2][3] from Latin lēctiō (“a reading; a choosing”), a noun of action from lēctus, past participle of legō (“to read; to gather, choose”),^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather”).^[3] The Shorter Oxford, Hoad and the Oxford Dictionary of English take it directly from the Latin noun.^[6][4][7] The Anglo-Norman word, recorded from 1267, meant election or choosing,^[8] and the Middle English Dictionary takes the Middle English sense of election as a shortened form of election.^[9] Lesson is a doublet, from the same Latin noun through Old French leçon.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Election, the choosing of a pope: before 1300, in the Legend of St Gregory, where the cardinals pray to God to make their choice well.^[2][9] The sense "a reading" is from the 1530s, according to Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense of election lasted until the mid-16th century in the standard language.^[6] In the dialects of Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and East Anglia lection still meant likelihood or probability in the 19th century ("no lections of rain"), and in Norfolk and Suffolk it was an adjective, likely.^[10] The reading senses came in the 16th century: a particular way of reading or interpreting a passage from about 1541, in Coverdale, a sense obsolete by 1702;^[2][6] a passage of scripture appointed to be read in church from 1608;^[2][11] and a reading found in a particular copy or edition of a text from 1659, often in the phrase various lections.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a reading; a variety in copies".^[12] A few senses were short-lived: a lecture (about 1566), a lesson to be learnt (1621) and the act of reading (1669–71).^[2] Thomas Hardy used lection as a verb, to read a lesson from, in 1922.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1300 – election, the choosing of a pope.^[2][9]
• c. 1541 – a particular way of reading or interpreting a passage (obsolete by 1702).^[2]
• 1608 – a passage of scripture read in church.^[2][11] Etymonline dates it to about 1600.^[3]
• 1659 – a reading of a text found in a particular copy or edition.^[2][3]
• 1922 – verb, to read a lesson from.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A passage from scripture read in a church service; a lesson.^[11][2]
2. A variant reading of a passage in a particular copy or edition of a text.^[11][13][2]
3. (obsolete) Election, choice.^[6][9][2]
4. (obsolete, 1541–1702) A particular way of reading or interpreting a passage.^[2][6]

Related words

• lectern
• lecture
• lector
• lesson
• legend
• elect
• lectionary

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins