avantagium

Forms

avantāgium n (genitive avantāgiī); second declension^[1][2] Medieval texts also write aventagium, advantagium, avauntagium and the short vantagium.^[1][3] Niermeyer explains the spelling adventagium as a false etymology.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French avantage (“advantage, profit”),^[2][3][4] from avant (“before”),^[1][5] which goes back to Latin abante (“from before”).^[5][3] Etymonline suggests that the French word may have passed through an unrecorded Latin form *abantaticum.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DMLBS has the short form ⟨vantagium⟩ in the Kalendar of Abbot Samson of Bury St Edmunds, from before 1184, in a sense it groups with profit and gain.^[3] Köbler and the MLW first find the full form in a charter of 1235, where a procurator receives eighteen measures of grain from the tithe as a surplus.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

It kept most senses of the French word.^[4][6] It meant an advantage or opportunity, as in the falconry book of Frederick II, where falcons nesting on high rocks have the advantage of seeing the birds they hunt;^[6] a profit or gain;^[4][3] a prerogative, especially an extra share of an inheritance or a gift between spouses, as in the laws of Aragon;^[4][6] a bonus added to the price in a sale, or a tip added to a workman's wage, which an edict of Henry VII forbade the moneyers to ask;^[4][6] in war, booty;^[4] and in British measures the difference between a heaped and a levelled measure.^[3] A Hungarian source of 1276 uses it for a favour,^[7] and a French charter for the overhang of a house.^[6]

English took advantage from the same Old French word in the early 14th century.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1184 – The Kalendar of Abbot Samson has the form ⟨vantagium⟩.^[3]
• 1235 – A charter uses it of a surplus of grain.^[2][1]
• 1236 – A British grant uses it for an exclusive advantage in cloth-working.^[3]
• 1276 – A Veszprém record tells of sisters who wanted to do someone a favour by giving a larger measure.^[7]
• 1311 – An edict of Henry VII forbids moneyers to ask any bonus beyond their wage.^[6]
• early 14th century – English advantage is taken from Old French.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) An advantage, opportunity; profit, gain.^[4][3][6][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A surplus, extra yield; a reward.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin, law) A prerogative right; an extra share of an inheritance.^[4][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) A bonus added to the price; a gratuity added to a wage.^[4][6]
5. (Medieval Latin) avantāgium guerrae: booty.^[4]
6. (Medieval Latin) The difference between long and short, or heaped and levelled, measure.^[3]
7. (Medieval Latin) A projection of a building.^[6]

Related words

• abante
• ante
• English advantage

References

1. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE