bondagium

Forms

bondagium n (genitive bondagiī); second declension; also bundagium.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin bondus (“tenant in bondage”) + -āgium.^[1][2] The DMLBS derives ⟨bondus⟩, first a freeholder or head of a household, later a tenant in bondage, from Old Norse bondi.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Yorkshire entry of about 1227 on two bovates of land that had been held in bondage of the king.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

In British records it was a kind of tenure like villeinage, then the land held in it, perhaps the rent for it, the status of the tenant, and figuratively servitude.^[2] Niermeyer gives the same two senses, servitude and servile tenure.^[3] English bondage, recorded from about 1300 for the condition of a serf, is formed from Middle English bond “serf, tenant farmer”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1227 – A Yorkshire record speaks of land held in bondage of the king.^[2][1]
• 1330 – A Surrey court roll has the spelling bundagium.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) Bondage, servile tenure like villeinage.^[2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) Land held in such tenure.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) The status of a bondage tenant; servitude.^[2][3]

Related words

• English bondage

References

1. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com