commissum

Forms

commissum n (genitive commissī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the neuter participle from Latin committō (“to entrust, commit”).^[2][1][3] committō is a compound of com- and mittō (“to send, let go”),^[3] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *meit-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *m(e)ith₂- (“to exchange, remove”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[3] in whom someone says there is no cause for a quarrel “unless there is some offence”, nisi aut quid commissi.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is an undertaking or enterprise: Cicero asks whether any deed or undertaking of a man was too audacious, and Livy speaks of correcting a rash undertaking.^[2][4][5] More often it is an offence or crime: Horace has a shameful offence, and Virgil the threat “you will pay for your offences”.^[4][5] It is also something entrusted, a trust, and especially a secret: Cicero speaks of disclosing secrets, and Horace of a man who cannot keep them quiet.^[2][4] In law it is the forfeiture of goods to the treasury, or the confiscated goods themselves, as in Suetonius and the Digest.^[2][4][5] In medieval texts it is a diocese, a trust or custody, and the forfeiture of a fief or leasehold.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of an offence.^[2][3][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of an undertaking and of secrets.^[2][4][7]
• 65–8 BC – Horace, of secrets and offences.^[2][4][7]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius, of confiscation.^[4][7]
• Medieval Latin – A diocese; the forfeiture of a fief.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An undertaking, enterprise.^[2][4][1]
2. An offence, crime, fault.^[2][4][1]
3. Something entrusted, a trust; a secret.^[2][4][1]
4. (law) Forfeiture, confiscation; confiscated property.^[2][4][1]
5. (Medieval Latin) A diocese; the forfeiture of a fief.^[6]

Related words

• committō
• mittō
• admissum

Usage notes

For a trust left by will, fideī commissum, see fideicommissum.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de