adhaesio

Forms

adhaesiō f (genitive adhaesiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin adhaereō + -tiō, from the verb meaning “to cling to”.^[2][1][3] The verb is ad- with haereō (“to stick”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in De finibus, speaks of the combinations, linkings and adhesions of atoms with one another.^[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Apuleius, in his work on the universe, describes stars bound together by their mutual adhesion.^[3][5] Augustine used it figuratively for clinging to someone out of devotion.^[5][6][7]

In British Medieval Latin it could mean an appurtenance of land, adherence to a belief or to a person or faction, and sexual union.^[8] Albertus Magnus uses it for the union with Christ in the Eucharist.^[9] English borrowed adhesion in the 1620s, from French or directly from Latin.^[10]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of the adhesions of atoms.^[4][11]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius describes stars linked by mutual adhesion.^[3][11]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of devoted attachment.^[5][11]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it of union with Christ in the Eucharist.^[9][11]
• 1620s – Borrowed into English as adhesion.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. An adhering or combining, a linkage.^[2][4]
2. (Late Latin, figurative) Devoted attachment to someone.^[5][6][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Adherence to a belief, a person or a faction.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) An appurtenance (of land).^[8]

Related words

• English adhesion

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c 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
9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de