Etymologically
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aestimatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ae̯s.tɪˈmaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [es.tiˈmat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

aestimātiō f (genitive aestimātiōnis); third declension[1] It is also spelled aestumātiō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from aestimō (“to value, assess”) with the suffix -tiō.[2][3][1] The origin of ⟨aestimō⟩, Old Latin ⟨aestumō⟩, is uncertain: de Vaan finds the old explanation from aes (“bronze”) and a root “to cut” hardly credible, and prefers, if the word is inherited, a link with Proto-Indo-European *h₂eis- (“to seek”), as in aeruscō (“to beg”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from the Lex repetundarum of 123/122 BC;[5] the OLD's earliest example is Varro on the price fixed “for buying or valuation”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the valuation of a thing in money, the assessment of goods in order to fix money payments, as in Cicero's Verrines, and the valuation of property for settling debts, as decreed by Caesar.[2][6] In law it is the assessment of a penalty or damages, lītis aestimātiō.[2] It is also an estimate of costs, as Vitruvius' architects, an appraised value or price, as Livy's cook, once the cheapest of slaves, and monetary worth.[2]

It is a reckoning of size or quantity and a judgement of a fact or quality, as well as esteem, and Cicero uses it for the Stoic axía, moral worth.[2][6] Church Latin glosses it “evaluation, count, appraisement”.[7] English estimation comes from it through Old French, from the late 14th century.[8]

Timeline

  • 123/122 BC – the Lex repetundarum.[5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of a valuation.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of assessment and of moral worth.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of the valuation of property for debts.[2][5]
  • late 14th century – English estimation.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Valuation, appraisal; assessment of goods or property.[2][6][1]
  2. (law) Assessment of a penalty or damages;[2][1] lītis aestimātiō.[2][1]
  3. An estimate of costs; an appraised value, price; worth.[2]
  4. Reckoning; judgement, esteem.[2][6]
  5. Moral worth.[2]

References

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