Etymologically
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abstinentia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ap.stɪˈnɛn.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ab.stiˈnɛn.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

abstinentia f (genitive abstinentiae); first declension[1] It is often written apstinentia, and the better manuscripts of Gregory of Tours have abstenentia.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin abstinēns (“abstaining”) + -ia, from the participle of abstineō (“to hold back, abstain”).[3][1][4] That verb is abs- with teneō (“to hold”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *t(e)nē- and Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh₁- (“to hold”), a stative of the root *ten- (“to stretch”).[5] Cognate with Umbrian tenitu (“let him hold”) and Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[6] who says of a man that his integrity makes him most worthy of the senate.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is restraint or abstention from something, and absolutely self-control.[3] Lewis & Short note that it always refers to the outward thing from which one keeps oneself, unlike continentia.[7] Its most characteristic classical sense is restraint in money matters, freedom from covetousness, integrity, as in Cicero; the TLL places first the use for one who asks for and takes nothing from others.[3][2] It also means abstemiousness in food and drink, or fasting: Celsus warns that too much abstinence is often harmful.[3] Apuleius uses it ironically of niggardliness.[3]

Church Latin glosses it abstinence, moderation, not eating certain foods.[8] In medieval Latin it means fasting or penance, and also an armistice.[9] English borrowed abstinence through Old French in the mid-14th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of integrity in money matters.[3][6]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus of excessive fasting.[3][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of abstention from another's body.[3][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of niggardliness.[3][6]
  • mid-14th century – Borrowed into English as abstinence.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Restraint, abstention from something; self-control.[3][7][1]
  2. Freedom from covetousness, integrity, incorruptibility.[3][7]
  3. Restraint in eating and drinking, abstemiousness; fasting.[3][8][1]
  4. Niggardliness, parsimony.[3]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Penance; an armistice.[9]

References

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