collusio

Forms

collūsiō f (genitive collūsiōnis); third declension^[1] It was also spelled conlūsiō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin collūdō + -tiō, a noun of action from the verb meaning “to play together; to act in collusion”.^[2][1][4] The verb is formed from con- and lūdō (“to play”),^[5] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *loid-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *loid- (“to let go frequently, play”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in Cicero's speeches against Verres, of the secret understanding between Verres' companions and the tax collectors.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The TLL notes that Cicero and Apuleius use it once each, the elder Seneca twice, and the jurists very often.^[4] It always meant a secret, deceptive understanding: between a girl's father and her abductor in Seneca's declamations, between husband and wife in Apuleius,^[2][3] and between parties to a lawsuit in the Digest.^[2][8]

Medieval writers kept the legal sense and also used it literally, of playing or joking together.^[9] English borrowed it as collusion in the late 14th century, through Old French and directly from Latin.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a secret understanding with the tax collectors.^[2][7]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of collusion between husband and wife.^[2][7]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of collusion in a trial for adultery.^[2][7]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as collusion.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A secret, deceptive understanding; collusion.^[2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) Playing together, banter.^[9]

Related words

• English collusion

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften