Etymologically
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combinatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔm.biːˈnaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kom.biˈnat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

combīnātiō f (genitive combīnātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin combīnō (“to unite, join two by two”) + -tiō,[1][2][3] that verb being formed from con- and bīnī (“two by two”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest TLL citation is from Hilary of Poitiers on the Psalms, who contrasts the unity of faith with a combīnātiō, a partnership of faction.[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it was a joining or union, especially of two things;[2][6][7] Diomedes uses it in metre for a pair of feet combined, and glossaries render it “a joining two by two”.[2][6] Medieval writers used it for a pairing of male and female, a relation between two things such as body and soul, and in philosophy and logic for the possible combinations of qualities, terms and propositions: Albertus Magnus says that such qualities admit only four combinations.[8] It was also used of musical modes, of two-part expressions in rhetoric, and in alchemy.[8] British sources have it for a grouping and for a sum total,[9] and Polish ones for a union of persons in a plot and for the number two.[10]

English combination came from it through Old French in the late 14th century,[4] and Conte gives it as the source of Italian combinazione.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers sets it against the unity of faith.[2][5][3]
  • 2nd half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes uses it of combined metrical feet.[2][7][11][3]
  • 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it of combinations of qualities.[8][3]
  • late 14th century – English combination is borrowed through Old French.[4]
  • 1549 – The statutes of Oxford speak of colleges or combinations of colleges.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A joining, union, especially of two; a joining two by two.[2][6][7][11][1]
  2. (Late Latin) A partnership, faction.[2][5]
  3. (Late Latin, metre) A pair of feet combined.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A pair; a pairing; a relation between two things.[8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) (philosophy and logic) A possible combination of qualities, terms or propositions.[8][9]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A grouping; a sum total.[9]

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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  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 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. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  11. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.