adiunctus

Forms

adiūnctus (feminine adiūncta, neuter adiūnctum, comparative adiūnctior); first/second-declension adjective^[1] An inscription has the spelling ⟨aiuncta⟩.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin adiungō (“to join to”): the perfect passive participle, used as an adjective.^[2][1][3] That verb is a compound of ad- (“to”) and iungō (“to join, yoke”),^[1][4] which de Vaan traces to the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *(H)iunégti (“yokes”).^[4] Cognate with Sanskrit युनज्मि (yunájmi, “I yoke”), Ancient Greek ζεύγνυμι (zeúgnumi) and Lithuanian jùngti (“to tie, join, yoke”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[3] who in the Orator uses it of a word joined to a preposition in a compound, whose first letter changed the preposition.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the senses of the verb, it meant adjacent in place, of estates, an island joined to a town, camps or a sea, and adjacent in time, of men of the same generation.^[2][5] It also meant associated with or related to something, as the rhetorical circumstances attached to persons and causes in Cicero and Quintilian, and Varro uses it of words connected by origin.^[2] With the comparative adiūnctior it meant relevant or pertinent.^[2][5]

As a noun, the neuter adiūnctum was a characteristic or essential attribute: Horace speaks of lingering in adiūnctīs aevōque … aptīs, on the attributes fitting each age.^[2][6][5] In rhetoric the plural adiūncta were the attendant circumstances of time and place from which arguments are drawn.^[6][5] In the Code of Justinian the masculine adiūnctus is a companion or partner,^[3] and medieval Latin used the adjective for adjoining land.^[3] English adjunct (1580s) comes from it.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a word joined in a compound and of adjacent estates.^[2][3]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses the neuter plural for fitting attributes.^[2][3]
• 528–534 AD – The Code of Justinian uses adiūnctus for a companion or partner.^[3]
• 1580s – English borrows it as adjunct.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of a word) Joined in a compound.^[2]
2. Adjacent, contiguous, in place or in time.^[2][5]
3. Associated, connected, related;^[2] (of words) connected by origin.^[2]
4. Relevant, pertinent.^[2][5]

Noun

1. (neuter adiūnctum) A characteristic attribute.^[6][5]
2. (neuter plural adiūncta, rhetoric) Attendant circumstances.^[6][5]
3. (Late Latin, masculine) A companion, partner.^[3]

Related words

• iungō
• English adjunct

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com