calculatio

Forms

calculātiō f (genitive calculātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin calculō (“to reckon”) + -tiō.^[1][2][3] The verb comes from calculus (“pebble, reckoning”), the counter used in reckoning.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Among its first authors is the grammarian Marius Victorinus, who uses it for the reckoning of syllables in metre: a tribrach is admitted by the same calculation, two short syllables counting as one long.^[2][5] Ambrose, in his book on Tobias, uses it of usury reckoned over and over on the fingers.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It was a word of later Latin;^[6] Georges notes that the classical word for the idea was computātiō.^[6] Cassiodorus and Venantius Fortunatus use it for reckoning,^[3][2] and a Carthaginian computus praises a man skilled in the art of calculation.^[2]

In the early Middle Ages it was the reckoning of time, the computus by which the date of Easter was found: Aldhelm and Bede use it so.^[7][8] The MLW also records it for the value of a number, for a measure of time in metre and for the casting of lots.^[7] In Hungarian and Polish charters and accounts of the 15th century it is the rendering of accounts, a statement of receipts and expenses.^[9][10] Du Cange notes that in Hungarian law it was the examination of witnesses.^[11]

English calculation comes from it.^[4]

Timeline

• first half of the 4th century AD – Marius Victorinus uses it in metre.^[2][5]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it of reckoning usury.^[2][5]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in his letters.^[3][5]
• 671 – Aldhelm writes of the method of calculation in a letter.^[8]
• late 14th century – English borrows calculacioun, later calculation.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) Calculation, computation, reckoning.^[3][2][12]
2. (Medieval Latin) The reckoning of time; the computus.^[7][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) The value of a number; a measure of time (in metre).^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) The casting of lots.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) An account, a statement of receipts and expenses.^[9][10]

Related words

• calculus
• English calculation

Usage notes

Georges and Lewis & Short give a separate calculātiō formed from calculus in its medical sense: Caelius Aurelianus uses it for the stone, a disease he equates with Ancient Greek λιθίασις (lithíasis).^[6][3] Gaffiot treats both as one word.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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 Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
10. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
11. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
12. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
13. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.