Etymologically
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completio

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Forms

complētiō f (genitive complētiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin compleō (“to fill up, complete”) + -tiō, a noun of action formed on the participle stem ⟨complēt-⟩ of the verb.[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first dated use is in the Itala, the Old Latin Bible, which in the book of Daniel counts seventy years in complētiōnem dēsōlātiōnis Hierusalem, “for the completion of the desolation of Jerusalem”, where the Vulgate has a form of the verb instead.[2][5] The epitome of Festus has it in the sense “a filling”.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

It is a post-classical word, used by Christian writers and the jurists.[6][3] Augustine uses it of the fulfilment of a prophecy and of what completes a sentence;[6][7][8] Jerome uses it of an accomplishment, and the Vulgate of the completion of the days of a siege in Ezekiel.[2]

Medieval Latin kept the senses “completion, accomplishment” and “fulfilment”,[9][10][11] and added more concrete uses: the making up of a sum or a measure, full payment of a debt, and the passing of a stretch of time.[10][12][13][14] Bede uses it of the days added to complete a cycle of the moon.[10] In philosophy it meant completeness or perfection;[11] Lanfranc glosses the “end” of the law, which is charity, as its completion.[11] In the Church it named the completion of the psalter, the prayer at the end of the mass, and compline.[11][10][13] English completion comes from the medieval word in the late 14th century.[4]

Timeline

  • after 220 AD – The Itala uses it in the book of Daniel.[2][5]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of the fulfilment of a prophecy.[6][7][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the completion of the days of a siege.[2][5]
  • first third of the 8th century – Bede uses it of the days that complete a lunar cycle.[10][5]
  • 1339 – A Hungarian charter uses it of making up a sum of marks.[12]
  • late 14th century – English completion is borrowed from Medieval Latin.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A filling (up).[6][2][1]
  2. (Late Latin) Fulfilment (of a prophecy, a promise).[6][7][3][1]
  3. (Late Latin) Completion, accomplishment, end.[2][3][8][9][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The making up (of a sum, a measure); full payment.[10][12][13][14]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The passing, end (of a period of time).[11][12][13]
  6. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) Completeness, perfection.[11][10][14]
  7. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The completion of the psalter; the closing prayer of the mass; compline.[11][10][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  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 e f g 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 c d Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
  13. ^ a b c d e Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  14. ^ a b c 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