compaciscor

Forms

compacīscor (present infinitive compacīscī, perfect active compactus sum); third conjugation, deponent^[1] Plautus and the dictionaries also have ⟨compecīscor⟩, with the perfect compectus sum.^[2][3][4] According to Georges, the grammarian Charisius says the present tense was not in use.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin com- + pacīscor (“to make an agreement”).^[5][6][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of pāx (“peace”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *pāk- (“agreement, peace”) and Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“agreement”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it in the perfect: sī sumu' compectī seu cōnsilium umquam iniimus, “if we have made a compact or ever formed a plan”.^[5][2][7][8] A fragment of his Cistellaria has mēcum mātrimōniō compecta sit, of a woman pledged in marriage.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is rare and found only in the perfect tenses and the participle.^[2] The neuter participle became the noun compectum, “agreement”, used chiefly in the phrase dē compectō or the ablative compectō, “by previous arrangement”.^[5][2]

The verb came back in medieval charters: a Hungarian document of 1230/1231 says that certain servants had come to an agreement with a count,^[9] and Polish documents use the participle in a passive sense, “agreed upon”.^[10] In the Czech lands it was used of choosing an arbitrator by agreement and of being joined by treaty.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the perfect compectī sumus.^[5][7][8]
• 1230/1231 – A Hungarian charter uses it of an agreement with a count.^[9]
• 1293 – A Polish document speaks of an arrangement agreed upon.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make an agreement, form a compact (with someone).^[5][2][3][1]
2. (Medieval Latin, perfect participle in a passive sense) Agreed upon.^[10]
3. (Medieval Latin) To choose (an arbitrator) by agreement; to be joined by treaty.^[11]

Word family

• compacticius
• compectum

Related words

• pāx
• pactum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
10. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
11. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences