abominatio

Forms

abōminātiō f (genitive abōminātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an action noun from Latin abōminor (“to deprecate as an ill omen, abhor”), with the suffix -tiō.^[2][3][1] The verb is formed from ab and ōmen.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Christian writers: Tertullian uses it of an abominable thing,^[2][4] and Lactantius of the act of abhorring.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Late and Christian Latin it meant both detestation and, by metonymy, the hateful thing itself, an “abomination”;^[3][5] the Vulgate uses it, as in Deuteronomy,^[6] and in Augustine.^[6]

Medieval writers used it for a crime or outrage, partly in the biblical sense,^[7] for cursing and for idolatry,^[8][9] and, following the Bible's name for the idols of the gentiles, for an idol.^[9] Medical writers such as Constantine the African used it for nausea and loathing of food,^[9][7] a sense found in British sources too.^[10] Du Cange also records it for the anathemas written in a church's book of curses.^[9]

English took abomination in the early 14th century, from Old French and directly from Latin.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of an abominable thing.^[2][12]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it for the act of abhorring.^[2][12]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for what is abhorrent.^[6][12]
• 706 – Aldhelm writes of the infamy of a horrible abomination.^[10]
• 1178 – Peter of Blois pairs it with nausea.^[10]
• early 14th century – English borrows it as abominacioun.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) Detestation, loathing, aversion.^[2][3][5]
2. (Late Latin) An abomination, a detestable thing.^[2][3][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) A crime, outrage.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Cursing; an anathema.^[8][9]
5. (Medieval Latin) Idolatry; an idol.^[8][9]
6. (Medieval Latin, medicine) Nausea, loathing of food.^[9][7][10]

Related words

• abominor
• omen
• English abomination

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f g du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de