accessorius

Forms

accessōrius (feminine accessōria, neuter accessōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Also written accessārius.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a medieval formation from Latin accessor (“helper”) + -ius,^[1] the agent noun from accēdō (“to approach, be added”).^[4][1] Köbler and Conte connect it with the noun accessus (“approach, addition”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the MLW cite it first from the sermons of Absalon, which Köbler places, with a query, in the last quarter of the 12th century: a torrent swells into a great river “aquis quibusdam accessoriis”, with some additional waters.^[6][2] As a noun meaning an appurtenance it is in the registers of Pope Innocent III.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was above all a legal word for what comes as a secondary addition to a principal thing: interest on a sum, the appurtenances of a property, a subordinate writ or mandate.^[6][3][7] In English law it named a person who was privy to a felony and helped the offender by deed or counsel, before or after the act, and Du Cange quotes Spelman for this use;^[8] British records also use it for complicity in a crime.^[3]

Scholastic writers set the accessorium against the principal or essential.^[3][9] Catalan, French, Italian and Portuguese borrowed the word, and so did Middle English, whence English accessory.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 1198–1216 – The registers of Innocent III use the noun for an appurtenance.^[2]
• c. 1350 – A British record speaks of an abbot charged as an accessory after the principal had been dealt with.^[3]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as accessory, also a legal term.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Additional, supplementary, coming as a secondary addition.^[6][1][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) Subordinate, accessory.^[3][7]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, neuter) An accessory or subordinate matter; an appurtenance, adjunct.^[3][6]
2. (Medieval Latin, masculine, law) An accessory to a crime, an accomplice.^[1][8]
3. (Medieval Latin, masculine) A helper.^[2]

Related words

• accēdō
• accessus
• English accessory

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson