calculatio
Pronunciation
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
- (Late Latin) Calculation, computation, reckoning.[3][2][12]
- (Medieval Latin) The reckoning of time; the computus.[7][8]
- (Medieval Latin) The value of a number; a measure of time (in metre).[7]
- (Medieval Latin) The casting of lots.[7]
- (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
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
- ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
- ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
- ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
- ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.