annotatio

Forms

annotātiō f (genitive annotātiōnis); third declension^[1] Also spelled adnotātiō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin adnotō + -tiō, a noun of action from the verb meaning “to note down”.^[1][2] The verb is made from ad- and notō (“to mark, note”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Quintilian (c. 35–95/96 AD), meaning a short written note.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

After Augustus it was a general word for a written note or remark: Pliny the Younger asks a friend to return his book with his notes, and Gellius uses it in his preface.^[2][3] The jurists used it for entering an absent person among the accused, and in the Theodosian Code it is an emperor's rescript signed in his own hand.^[2][3]

Medieval writers used it for a record, a passage of a text, a subscription to a document, a note and a critical comment;^[6][7] Bede uses it for the reckoning of the Easter feast.^[6][7] A Neo-Latin chronicler applies it to a system of dating years, the Christian one from the Incarnation.^[8] English annotation was borrowed from it in the mid-15th century.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian speaks of a brief written note.^[3][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it in the preface to his work.^[2][5]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as annotation.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A noting down in writing; a note, remark, annotation.^[2][3]
2. (law) The entering of an absent person among the accused.^[2][3]
3. (law) An emperor's rescript signed in his own hand.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A record or passage in a document; a subscription.^[6][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A comment or criticism.^[7]
6. (New Latin) A system of reckoning years, an era.^[8]

Related words

• English annotation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c d 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