Etymologically
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causor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkau̯.sɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkaːu̯.sor][1]

Forms

causor (present infinitive causārī, perfect active causātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin causa (“cause, reason, lawsuit”) + -ō.[2][3][4] De Vaan dates it from Pacuvius onwards, with the sense “to plead a cause”.[5] The origin of causa, spelled ⟨caussa⟩ in inscriptions until the 1st century BC, is unclear: its /s/ between vowels comes from earlier /ss/, which points to an older double consonant or cluster, and Walde and Hofmann connected it with cūdō (“to strike”), taking “a blow as cause” as the first meaning, while Ernout and Meillet doubted an Indo-European origin.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pacuvius uses it in tragedy:[2][5][6] quī sēsē adfīnēs esse ad causandum volunt, of people who want a part in pleading.[2] According to Nonius it meant to plead a cause or bring an action.[2]

Semantic evolution

In early Latin (Pacuvius, Accius, Afranius) it meant to plead or argue a matter.[3][7] Cicero does not use it.[3] From the Augustan period it means to give something as a reason, often a pretended one: to plead ill-health, to allege an excuse.[3] Lucretius has quamvīs causandō multa morēris, “however long you delay by raising objections”,[2] and Livy and Tacitus use it with valētūdinem, “to plead ill-health”.[3] The jurist Papinian uses it with an infinitive, to excuse oneself from doing something,[2][7] and Salvian uses it to mean to complain.[7] An active form causō is also found.[7][4]

Timeline

  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius, “to plead a cause”.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, “to raise objections”.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it absolutely in the Eclogues.[3][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus has it with valētūdinem and negōtia.[3][6]
  • before 212 AD – Papinian, to excuse oneself from doing something.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (early Latin) To plead a cause, argue a matter; to bring an action.[2][3]
  2. To give as a reason or excuse, allege; to make a pretext of.[2][3][7]
  3. (with an infinitive) To excuse oneself from doing something.[2][7]
  4. (Late Latin) To complain.[7]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn