allusio

Forms

allūsiō f (genitive allūsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin allūdō (“to play with, jest”) + -tiō.^[1][2] allūdō is made of ad- and lūdō (“to play”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Arnobius uses it for playing with or caressing something: a viper still bites, he says, however it is stroked.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Cassiodorus uses it figuratively, of the parables and figures of speech in the Psalms.^[2] Medieval Latin had it for figurative expression or interpretation,^[5] a play upon words, and an allusion.^[6] An Old English glossary renders it plegan, “play”.^[7]

In Neo-Latin Julius Caesar Scaliger uses it for an echo between similar-sounding words.^[8] English allusion appears in the 1540s for a metaphor or parable; the sense of a passing reference dates from the 1610s.^[3]

Timeline

• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of playing with a viper.^[2][4]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of figures of speech.^[2][4]
• 1540s – English allusion appears, first for a metaphor or parable.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A playing or toying with; caressing.^[9][2]
2. (Late Latin) A figure of speech, figurative expression.^[2][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) A play upon words, pun; an allusion.^[6]
4. (New Latin) Assonance, an echo between words.^[8]

Related words

• English allusion

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press