amnestia

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [amˈneːs.ti.a]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [amˈnɛs.ti.a]^[1]

Forms

amnēstia f (genitive amnēstiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία (amnēstía, “forgetfulness; amnesty”).^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Valerius Maximus (1st century AD), and Gaffiot cites him.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a general pardon, an amnesty, a forgiving of political offences.^[2][6] Lewis & Short note that it was Latinized as oblīviō.^[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant amnesty.^[7] British Medieval Latin glossaries render it as forgetting, abolitio.^[8] Through French amnistie it gave English amnesty in the 1570s, “a ruling authority's pardon of past offences”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Valerius Maximus uses it.^[4][5]
• 1570s – English amnesty is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An amnesty, general pardon.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Forgetting.^[8]

Related words

• oblīviō
• English amnesty

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b 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