attritio

Forms

attrītiō f (genitive attrītiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin atterō (“to rub against, wear away”) + -tiō, a noun of action built on the verb's past participle stem.^[2][1][3] The verb is formed from ad- and terō (“to rub”),^[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's earliest example is in the Historia Augusta,^[2] dated by Köbler to the 4th or 5th century AD,^[5] where rose wine is made fragrant by the crushing of pine kernels; the sense is the act of rubbing or grinding.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it remained a rare word for friction or rubbing:^[6][7] Servius uses it of the rubbing of the ribs,^[2][8] veterinary and medical texts of chafing and galls,^[2] and Martianus Capella pictures a file that cleans away faults of speech by gentle rubbing.^[2] A figurative use for diminution or hardship appears in the Latin Novels of Justinian.^[2]

Medieval Latin used it for bruising and wear,^[9][10] for the pounding of substances in alchemy,^[10] and for tribulation.^[10][9] In scholastic theology it became the name of an imperfect sorrow for sin, a step towards full contrition;^[10][11] Niermeyer glosses it as compunction.^[12] English borrowed it in the 15th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 4th–5th century AD – The Historia Augusta uses it of the crushing of pine kernels.^[2][5]
• c. 400 AD – Servius uses it of the rubbing of the ribs.^[2][5]
• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella has a file that polishes away faults of speech by rubbing.^[2][5]
• 1301 – A Canterbury register speaks of open sins atoned for by attrition and penance.^[10]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as attrition.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of rubbing against something; friction.^[6][7][2]
2. Crushing or grinding.^[2]
3. (medicine) A chafe or gall of the skin.^[2]
4. (Late Latin) Diminution, hardship.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) Wear, bruising.^[9][10]
6. (Medieval Latin) Tribulation.^[10][9]
7. (Medieval Latin, theology) Imperfect sorrow for sin, short of contrition; compunction.^[10][11][12]

Related words

• English attrition

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
11. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
12. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill