Etymologically
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appertineo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ap.pɛrˈtɪ.ne.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ap.perˈtiː.ne.o][1]

Forms

appertineō (present infinitive appertinēre, perfect active appertinuī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1] The assimilated spelling alternates with adpertineō.[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + pertineō (“to belong, pertain”).[1][4][3]

It lived on in Italian appartenere, French appartenir and Spanish apertenecer.[4] English appertain and appurtenance come from Anglo-French and Old French apartenir, which Etymonline derives from this Late Latin verb.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first users are the Roman land surveyors, who write that a spring or a boundary “belongs” to an estate, and inscriptions, among them one from Lugdunum (Lyon) that speaks of a merchant belonging to a guild.[4][6] Lewis and Short also cite it from a writer named Innocentius.[2]

Semantic evolution

It was a word of property and administration from the start, and in medieval charters it is the usual verb for land, buildings and rights that belong to an estate or a person: a St Gall charter of 744 gives away “whatever belongs to me” of a little piece of land.[3] The present participle, used as a noun, appertinentia, meant the appurtenances of a town or estate.[7][3]

Outside the law it meant simply to belong to, be connected with something.[3][7]

Timeline

  • 744 – A St Gall charter uses it for the land and house that belong to the donor.[3]
  • 1012–1018 – Thietmar of Merseburg's chronicle has the participle for the appurtenances of a town.[7][8]
  • c. 1300 – English has appurtenance, from Anglo-French.[5]
  • 1325 – A charter grants a court with the half manse that belongs to it.[7]
  • late 14th century – English borrows appertain through Anglo-French.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To belong to, appertain to, with the dative or ad.[2][6][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin, law) Of land, buildings and rights: to belong to an estate or a person.[3][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To be connected with, relate to.[3][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) In the plural of the present participle used as a noun, appertinentia: the appurtenances of a town or estate.[7][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de