Etymologically
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abolitio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [a.bɔˈlɪ.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [a.boˈlit.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

abolitiō f (genitive abolitiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aboleō (“to destroy, abolish”) + -tiō.[2][1] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *ol-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃olh₁-eie- (“to bring down”), a causative to the root of Ancient Greek ὄλλυμι (óllumi), which he finds more likely than the older idea that the verb was formed as the opposite of adoleō (“to grow up”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a word of the 1st century AD and later.[4] Quintilian uses it of an amnesty: a tyrant qui sub pacto abolitionis dominationem deposuerat, “who had laid down his rule on terms of an amnesty”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Tacitus uses it of the annulling of a sentence and of the abolition of taxes, and Suetonius of the repeal of a law and of an amnesty.[2][4] In legal language it was also the withdrawal of a charge, the dropping of a prosecution,[2] and Apuleius uses it of destruction in general.[2] Jerome writes of the abolition of the law of Moses.[5]

In Christian Latin it meant removal or withdrawal,[6] and in Medieval Latin the remission of sins.[7] English took over abolition in the 1520s, from French or directly from Latin.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of an amnesty.[2][9]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of annulling a sentence and abolishing taxes.[2][4]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of the repeal of a law.[4]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of the destruction of knowledge.[2][9]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome writes of the abolition of the law of Moses.[5]
  • 1520s – English borrows it as abolition.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Destruction, obliteration.[2]
  2. Annulment, abolition (of a law, sentence or tax).[2][4]
  3. (law) The withdrawal of a charge, the dropping of a prosecution.[2]
  4. An amnesty.[2][4]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Remission of sins.[7]
  • abolefaciō
  • aboleō
  • abolescō
  • abolitor

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de