Etymologically
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clementia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɫeːˈmɛn.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kleˈmɛn.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

clēmentia f (genitive clēmentiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin clēmēns (“mild, merciful”) + -ia.[2][1][3][4] The origin of clēmēns is uncertain.[5] Walde and Hofmann followed Bréal and Osthoff in deriving it from ⟨*klejomenos⟩ “leaning”, which de Vaan rejects on phonetic grounds; he finds more attractive Ernout and Meillet's idea that it is the opposite of vehemēns (“violent”), both being compounds of mēns (“mind”).[5] Etymonline reports the usual link with Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (“to lean”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Terence.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Clēmentia is the disposition to spare or pardon, clemency, leniency (Cicero: aut saevitiam aut clēmentiam iūdicis).[2][7] Cicero defines it as one of the parts of temperance, by which a mind provoked to hatred is restrained by kindness.[3] Caesar's clemency was honoured as Clēmentia Caesaris, and Clementia was worshipped as a goddess.[3] From the post-Augustan period it is also the mildness of weather or climate (Columella: if the mildness of the winter allows).[2][7]

Döderlein contrasts it with mānsuētūdō, the mildness of a private person who does not avenge an insult, and clēmentia, the mercy of a ruler or judge who does not inflict the punishment deserved.[8] In Late and medieval Latin Clēmentia became a title of emperors and kings, “Your Clemency”.[1] English clemency (1550s) comes from it.[4]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[5][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: aut saevitiam aut clēmentiam iūdicis.[2][6]
  • 44 BC – The senate honours the Clēmentia Caesaris.[3]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of a mild winter.[2][6]
  • 1550s – English clemency.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Clemency, mercy, leniency.[2][7][1][9]
  2. Gentleness, mildness.[1]
  3. Mildness (of weather or climate).[2][7][1]
  4. (Late Latin) A title of rulers: Clēmentia vestra, Your Clemency.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson