assertio

Forms

assertiō f (genitive assertiōnis); third declension^[1] Also spelled adsertiō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin asserō + -tiō, from the verb meaning “to lay claim to (a person as free or slave)”.^[2][3][1] The verb is a compound of serō² (“to join”),^[4] which goes back to Proto-Italic *sere/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ser-e/o- (“to thread, tie together”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quintilian (c. 35–95/96 AD)^[5] is the first the OLD cites: it was a legal term for the formal claim that a person was free or a slave, in a suit over civil status.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense appears in Quintilian, in a letter of Trajan among those of Pliny the Younger, and in Suetonius, who speaks of perfusoriae adsertiones, unwarranted declarations of freedom.^[3][2] The declamations ascribed to Quintilian use it for the defence of a person's character.^[2] In Late Latin it came to mean an assertion or declaration (Arnobius, Sidonius),^[3][6] and the Theodosian Code uses it for admitting someone to an order.^[6]

Medieval Latin used it for an assertion, a declaration or a doctrine,^[7] for the vindication of a cause and for corroboration;^[8] it also had legal senses of a claim and of an allegation made before a judge.^[9] English borrowed it in the early 15th century, from Old French or directly from Late Latin.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it for the legal claim of a person's status.^[2][5]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius speaks of unwarranted declarations of freedom.^[3][5]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it for an assertion in general.^[3][5]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as assertion.^[10]
• 1521 – Henry VIII publishes his Assertio septem sacramentorum.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) The formal claim that a person is free or a slave, in a suit over civil status.^[2][3]
2. The defence or vindication of a person's character.^[2]
3. (Late Latin) Admission (of someone) to an order or body.^[6]
4. (Late Latin) An assertion, declaration.^[3][6][11]
5. (Medieval Latin) A doctrine or teaching.^[7]
6. (Medieval Latin) Corroboration, confirmation.^[8][9]

Related words

• English assertion

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c 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 Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson