compilatio

Forms

compīlātiō f (genitive compīlātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin compīlō (“to plunder, pillage”) + -tiō, a noun of action formed on the participle stem ⟨compīlāt-⟩ of the verb.^{[2][3][4][1][5]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only classical example is in a letter of Cicero, who asks his correspondent whether he really thinks Cicero wanted him to send reports of gladiatorial pairings and the compīlātiō of Chrestus.^[2][3][6] The dictionaries read the word differently: the OLD takes it as a plundering, a burglary, while Lewis & Short and Georges see a joking use for a collection of documents, a compilation, and Conte a plundering of other writings, hence a compilation or plagiarism.^[2][7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

The ancient glossaries keep the sense of theft, explaining it as fūrtum.^[3] The medieval word is the one Cicero's letter may already show: the act of excerpting and putting together material from other writings, and the work made in this way.^[10][11][12] Chroniclers called their own work a compīlātiō taken from various writers, and canonists used it for the collections of papal decretals.^[10] It could also mean the arrangement of words in a speech, the drawing up of a document, and the composition of a medicine.^[10][13][14] A British writer uses it once of a crowd of people.^[11] In the Czech lands it was still used, ironically, of a book stolen together from the books of others.^[13]

It is the source of Italian compilazione,^[9] and English compilation came from it through Old French in the mid-15th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of the compīlātiō of Chrestus.^[2][3][6]
• 1245 – A Pomeranian charter names witnesses to the drawing up of a document.^[10]
• 1280 – Hugo of Trimberg calls his own work a compīlātiō.^[10][6]
• mid-15th century – English compilation is borrowed through Old French.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A plundering, pillage; a burglary.^[2][15][1]
2. A collection of documents or writings; a compilation (said in jest).^[7][8][9][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) The act of excerpting and compiling; a work compiled from others.^{[10][11][12][13]}
4. (Medieval Latin, canon law) A collection of papal decretals.^[10]
5. (Medieval Latin) An arrangement, composition (of words, of a medicine); the drawing up of a document.^[10][13][14]
6. (Medieval Latin) A gathering of people, crowd.^[11]

Related words

• compīlātor
• compīlō
• English compilation

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
13. ^ a b c d 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
14. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
15. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.