Etymologically
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collisio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔlˈliː.si.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kolˈliː.s̬i.o][1]

Forms

collīsiō f (genitive collīsiōnis); third declension[1] It is often spelled conlīsiō in manuscripts and editions.[2][3] Gregory of Tours has the form conlaesiō.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin collīdō (“to strike together”) + -tiō,[2][3][1] that verb being a compound of con- and laedō (“to strike, hurt”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Terentianus Maurus and Tertullian on, while the participle collīsus goes back to Seneca.[3] Terentianus uses it of the parts of a word running together and blurring their sound.[3]

Semantic evolution

In its literal sense it was a clash or striking together:[2][4][3] Tertullian writes of the clash of nations with the roaring of the sea, Servius reports that natural philosophers explain lightning by the collision of clouds, Macrobius explains sound by the violent collision of two bodies, and the Vulgate speaks of the clash of arms.[3] It also meant a blow or injury, as in Justin, where a woman dies from the shock of a miscarriage, and in medical writers a bruise or wound.[3][4] Grammarians used it for the running together of sounds, as in synaloepha, and for the repetition of syllables where words meet.[3][4] Figuratively it was a clash of persons, a dispute.[3]

Medieval Latin kept these senses and added others:[5][6][7] a quarrel, as when Paul the Deacon speaks of living together without strife, a contradiction between laws, an impact, a shipwreck, a collapse of rock, and in music a harsh dissonance.[6] English collision was borrowed from it in the early 15th century.[8]

Timeline

  • 2nd/3rd century AD – Terentianus Maurus uses it of the parts of a word running together.[3][9]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian writes of the clash of nations.[3][9]
  • 2nd half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes defines sound as a bodily collision.[3][9]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate speaks of the clash of arms.[3][9]
  • c. 400 AD – Servius reports that lightning comes from colliding clouds.[3][9]
  • 787–799 – Paul the Deacon uses it of strife.[6][9]
  • 1267 – Roger Bacon writes that sound is made by the collision of hard with hard.[7]
  • early 15th century – English collision is borrowed.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A clash, collision, a striking together.[2][4][3][5][1]
  2. A blow, shock, injury;[3][4][5][6] (Late Latin) a bruise or wound.[3][4][5][6]
  3. (grammar) The running together of sounds, elision; the repetition of syllables at the meeting of words.[3][4][6][7]
  4. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) A quarrel, dispute; a contradiction.[3][5][6]
  5. (Medieval Latin) An impact; a collapse;[6] (music) a dissonance.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 j k l m n o p q r s t Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de