anticipatio

Forms

anticipātiō f (genitive anticipātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin anticipō (“to take beforehand”) + -tiō, a noun of action.^[2][1][3] In its philosophical and rhetorical senses it renders Ancient Greek πρόληψις (prólēpsis).^[4][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it for the Epicurean term: there is no people that does not have, without being taught, a certain anticipātiō of the gods, which Epicurus called prolēpsis, a notion of a thing formed in the mind beforehand.^[5][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short find the sense “preconception” only in Cicero,^[4] but Arnobius, Chalcidius and Jerome use it again,^[5] and Chalcidius also of prejudice, saying that a fair judgement should be free of the prejudices of hatred and favour.^[5] Arnobius uses it of the first movements of the body before walking,^[4][5] and the rhetoricians called by it the figure in which an opponent's objection is forestalled.^[4][5][6]

In Medieval Latin it meant anticipating something in time, as in Bede's phrase per anticipātiōnem, “by anticipation”,^[7][8] advance or overtaking,^[7][8] the advance payment of a tax,^[8] and in a charter of 1279 an illegal forestalling sale.^[7][3] English anticipation dates from the late 14th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for Epicurus' πρόληψις.^[5][2][3]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of the first movements in walking.^[5][3]
• 1st third of the 8th century – Bede uses per anticipātiōnem, “by anticipation”.^[7][8][3]
• 1279 – A charter forbids forestalling sales by this name.^[7][3]
• late 14th century – English anticipation is taken from it.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A preconception, an innate notion formed before instruction.^[2][4][5]
2. (Late Latin) A prejudice.^[5]
3. (Late Latin) The first movement of the body before walking.^[4][5]
4. (rhetoric) Prolepsis, forestalling an objection.^[4][5][6]
5. (Medieval Latin) Doing or telling something before its time; advance payment; forestalling in trade.^[7][8]
6. (Medieval Latin) Advance, overtaking.^[7][8]

Related words

• English anticipation

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d e f 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com