Etymologically
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alienatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [a.li.ɛˈna.ti.ɔ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [a.li.eˈnat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

aliēnātiō f (genitive aliēnātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aliēnō (“to transfer, estrange”) + -tiō.[2][3][1][4] aliēnō is formed from aliēnus (“belonging to another”), which de Vaan derives from alius (“other”), though he finds its suffix unclear;[5] he traces alius to Proto-Italic *al-jo- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-io- (“another”).[5] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) and Old Irish aile (“other”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it in use from Cicero's time,[3] and Köbler dates it from Cicero,[6] who has the estrangement of the consuls, aliēnātiō cōnsulum.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In law it is the transfer of ownership of property or rights to another, a sense the TLL finds most often in the jurists;[2][3] Cicero speaks of the transfer of a family's sacred rites to another family.[7] It also means estrangement or alienation of feeling: Cicero tells an opponent that his estrangement from Cicero will recommend him to wicked citizens, and Caesar contrasts the alienation of an army with its goodwill.[7] In medicine, as the TLL notes, it is a loss of feeling, as in Seneca's pain turning into numbness and sleep, and aliēnātiō mentis is madness or delirium in Celsus.[2][3][7] Church Latin has it as alienation, transfer from one to another.[8] English alienation meant estrangement from the late 14th century and the transfer of property from the early 15th.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of estrangement and of a transfer of rites.[2][7][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar, of the alienation of an army.[7][6]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus, aliēnātiō mentis, madness.[2][6]
  • late 14th century – English alienation, estrangement.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) A transfer of ownership, alienation;[2][7][1] the right to transfer ownership.[2]
  2. Estrangement, aversion, hostility.[2][7][1]
  3. (medicine) Numbness, stupor;[2] aliēnātiō mentis, madness, delirium.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson