Etymologically
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compaciscor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔm.paˈkiːs.kɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kom.paˈt͡ʃis.kor][1]

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

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