complacentia

Forms

complacentia f (genitive complacentiae); first declension^[1][2] Medieval spellings include complacencia and conplacentia.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin complaceō (“to please greatly”), from its present participle stem ⟨complacent-⟩.^[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Jerome's commentary on Jeremiah, of what pleases: deserui eum et nulla est in illo mihi complacentia, “I have left him, and I take no pleasure in him”.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Latin used it widely for satisfaction, pleasure and enjoyment,^[7][8][9] for goodwill, favour and approval,^[7][8][3] and for someone's pleasure or wish, often in the formulas of charters and letters.^[7][10][4] It also meant a favour or service done to please someone.^[8][11][4] The scholastics used it for the pleasure taken in an act: Albert the Great calls delight a joy arising from the complacentia of an action.^[8]

English complacence (mid-15th century) comes from it.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it in his commentary on Jeremiah.^[2][5]
• 1241 – In a letter, Adam Marsh writes of someone giving up a lawsuit out of regard for the king's pleasure.^[9]
• 1438 – A document from Nîmes promises the townspeople great pleasure from willows planted around the city's spring.^[11]
• 1443–1445 – Schlick uses it in a letter of the Piccolomini correspondence.^[12]
• mid-15th century – English complacence is first recorded, meaning pleasure or gratification.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. That which pleases; delight.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) satisfaction, pleasure, enjoyment.^[7][8][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) goodwill, favour, approval.^[7][8][3]
4. (Medieval Latin) Someone's pleasure or wish.^[7][4]
5. (Medieval Latin) A favour or service done to please someone.^[8][11][4]
6. (Medieval Latin) A source of pleasure; an embellishment.^[9]

Related words

• complaceo
• English complacence

References

1. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
4. ^ a b c d e Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
12. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de