aspersio

Forms

aspersiō f (genitive aspersiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin aspergō¹ + -tiō, a noun of action from the verb meaning “to sprinkle on”.^[2][1] The verb is a compound of spargō (“to strew”),^[3] which goes back to Proto-Italic *sparg- and Proto-Indo-European *sp(e)r-g- (“to strew”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC)^[4] has it in the De legibus for a sprinkling with water, and in De divinatione for colours laid on by chance.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The Classical sense was a sprinkling on.^[2] Later writers used it for strewing salt (Palladius) and dust,^[6] and the Vulgate for the sprinkling of blood and for the “water of sprinkling”.^[5][6] Augustine used it figuratively, of deeds turned into fables by a sprinkling of lies.^[6]

In medieval Latin it was above all the sprinkling with holy water, with baptismal water or with miraculous water,^[7][8] and also the sprinkling of ashes and, figuratively, of Christ's blood.^[8] English borrowed it in the mid-15th century, first in theology for the shedding of Christ's blood; the sense of slander came in the 1590s.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for sprinkling with water and for the laying on of colours.^[5][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for the sprinkling of blood.^[5][4]
• late 4th or early 5th century AD – Palladius uses it for strewing salt.^[6][4]
• early 8th century – Bede uses it for sprinkling with miraculous water.^[7][4]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as aspersion, a theological term.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sprinkling on; a sprinkling.^[2][5]
2. The laying on of colours.^[5][6]
3. A strewing (of salt or dust).^[6]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The sprinkling with holy water; aspersion.^[7][10]
5. (Medieval Latin) The sprinkling of baptismal water.^[7][8]

Related words

• English aspersion

References

1. ^ a b 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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson