citatio

Forms

citātiō f (genitive citātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin citō² (“to set in motion, summon”) + -tiō, a noun of action.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest use is in Hyginus' treatise on fortifying a camp, where it is a military call or word of command.^[4][5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

Late writers used it of a public calling out of names or edicts:^[2] the Bobbio scholia on Cicero speak of the calling of the tablets,^[2] a law of 466 in the Code of Justinian of the calling of the solemn edicts,^[2][4][5] and Cassiodorus of men condemned after repeated summonses because they would not come.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it became the legal word for a summons to appear before a judge, especially in church courts;^{[7][8][9][10]} Stelten describes it as the summons that informs the respondent of the claim and calls for a written answer.^[10] It could also mean the letter of summons, a lawsuit, a call to military service and, in medical writers, a twitching of the lips.^[8][9][11] Renaissance writers used it for the quoting of authors, as when Sabellicus thought that by citing them he had pointed to the source.^[12] English citation came from it about 1300, first meaning a summons.^[3]

Timeline

• 3rd century AD? – Hyginus uses it for a military call.^[2][5][6]
• 466 AD – A law in the Code of Justinian speaks of the calling of the solemn edicts.^[2][4]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it of repeated summonses.^[2][6]
• 1214 – An English charter reserves the small seal for making summonses.^[9]
• 1231 – A Hungarian document uses it of a summons to court.^[13]
• c. 1300 – English citation is recorded in the sense “summons”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A calling, calling out; a proclamation (of edicts).^[4][5][2][1]
2. (military) A call, a word of command.^[4][5]
3. (Medieval Latin, law) A summons to appear before a judge, especially in church law; a citation.^{[7][8][9][10]}
4. (Medieval Latin) A letter of summons.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) A summons to military service.^[9][11]
6. (Medieval Latin, medicine) A twitching (of the lips).^[8]
7. (New Latin) The quoting of an author.^[12]

Related words

• English citation

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b c d e 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
10. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
12. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
13. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE