Etymologically
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accusatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ak.kuːˈsaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ak.kuˈs̬at.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

accūsātiō f (genitive accūsātiōnis); third declension[1] Manuscripts also have accussātiō.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin accūsō (“to accuse”) + -tiō.[3][1][2][4] accūsō is ad- with causa (“cause, lawsuit”),[1][5] whose origin de Vaan finds uncertain (Walde and Hofmann linked it with cūdō (“to strike”)).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler first records it in Cicero,[6] who uses it in Dē inventiōne for the accusation as part of judicial oratory.[3]

Semantic evolution

Accūsātiō is the act of accusing, a prosecution (Cicero: the method of the courts consists of accusation and defence), and quārta accūsātiō is the fourth and last hearing of a trial before the people.[3][7] It is also the charge itself, a formal indictment, and a published speech for the prosecution, as Cicero calls a book of his Verrines; in Tacitus it is the accusations of informers.[3] Livy uses it for a reproof, as of a speaker who began by rebuking his own folly.[3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “accusation”.[8] English accusation (late 14th century) comes from it, partly through Old French.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero in Dē inventiōne.[3][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it for a rebuke.[3][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of informers' accusations.[3][6]
  • late 14th century – English accusation.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An accusation, prosecution.[3][7][1][8]
  2. An indictment, a charge.[3][7][1]
  3. A speech for the prosecution.[3]
  4. A rebuke, reproof.[3][1]
  • accūsābilis
  • accūsātīvus
  • accūsātor
  • accūsātōriē
  • accūsātōrius
  • accūsātrīx
  • accūsitō
  • accūsō
  • causa
  • English accusation

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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 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