communicatio

Forms

commūnicātiō f (genitive commūnicātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin commūnicō (“to share”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] Commūnicō is from commūnis “common”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in the Pro Balbo, says that the ancestors never stopped granting and sharing citizenship.^[2][5] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant the sharing or imparting of something, as a community of interests or an exchange of talk in Cicero.^[2][7] Lewis & Short note it occurs several times in Cicero and rarely elsewhere.^[5] Vitruvius uses it of the common ground shared by all the arts.^[2] In rhetoric it was the figure in which the speaker seems to consult the audience or the opponent.^[2][7]

In Christian Latin it meant fellowship, membership of the Christian community and participation in the sacraments, and in the liturgy the communion.^[8][9] Medieval Latin also used it of imparting ideas, as in Roger Bacon.^[10] English communication came from Old French and Latin in the early 15th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of sharing citizenship.^[2][6]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the common ground of the arts.^[2][6]
• early 15th century – English communication is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sharing, imparting.^[2][1]
2. Common ground, connection.^[2]
3. (rhetoric) Consultation with the audience or opponent.^[2]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Fellowship, communion.^[8][1]
5. (Medieval Latin) communication of ideas.^[10][1]

Related words

• communico
• English communication

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 j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b 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