apostasia

Forms

apostasia f (genitive apostasiae); first declension.^[1][2] The Greek accusative apostasian occurs in the Latin Irenaeus.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀποστασία (apostasía).^[1][4][5][6] Conte calls both the Latin word and its Greek source late.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Christian writers: the Latin translation of Irenaeus,^[3][2] and Ambrosiaster, in the last third of the 4th century AD,^[8] who uses it of the fall of Lucifer from heaven.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word meant a falling away from God or from the faith:^[1][4] Augustine speaks of the apostasia of the first man,^[3] and Salvian uses it of departure from one's religion.^[1]

In Medieval Latin it also named heresy and schism,^[4] a cleric's breach of duty or defiance of church authority,^[5] and the breaking of monastic vows or desertion of a monastery.^[6][4][5] English writers used it for the renunciation of the Jewish faith too, and for giving up a vocation.^[5] English borrowed it in the late 14th century as apostasie.^[9]

Timeline

• last third of the 4th century AD – Ambrosiaster uses it of the fall of Lucifer.^[3][8]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine writes of the apostasia of the first man.^[3][8]
• 435/439 AD – Salvian uses it of a departure from one's religion.^[1][8]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm says that Julian seized tyranny and apostasy together.^[4][5][8]
• first third of the 8th century AD – Bede tells of a turning to apostasy after the Christian sacraments were abandoned.^[5][8]
• 1308 – A papal letter accuses the Templars of the crime of apostasy and of various heresies.^[5]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as apostasie.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Apostasy, the renunciation of one's religion or of the Christian faith.^{[1][10][4][5]}
2. (Medieval Latin) Heresy or schism.^[4]
3. (Medieval Latin) The breaking of monastic vows; leaving a religious order without leave.^[6][4][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) A cleric's neglect of duty or rejection of church authority.^[5]

Related words

• apostata
• English apostasy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson