comprehensio

Forms

comprehēnsiō f (genitive comprehēnsiōnis); third declension^[1] Also written comprēnsiō and conprehēnsiō.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin comprehendō + -tiō, from comprehendō (“to grasp, seize; to include; to understand”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Cicero's De inventione on,^[3] where it means an argument that catches the opponent whichever point is granted, a dilemma.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Cicero used it of taking hold with the hands and of the arrest of guilty men,^[2][4] and of a comprehensive statement.^[2] In philosophy he coined it to render Ancient Greek κατάληψις (katálēpsis), mental grasp or perception,^[4] and in rhetoric it named the grouping of words into a period.^[2][4] Pliny the Elder uses it for a zone of the earth containing named places, and Quintilian for classifying things under a head.^[2]

Church Latin used it for comprehension and understanding.^[5] Medieval Latin added the appropriation of waste land to bring it under cultivation, and the reclaimed land itself,^[6] and in British charters, with furis, the right or duty to seize a thief.^[7] English comprehension dates from the mid-15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of grasping, arrest, mental perception and the period.^[2][4][9]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a zone of the earth.^[2][9]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of classifying.^[2][9]
• 847 – A charter frees land from the duty of seizing thieves.^[7]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as comprehension.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A taking hold, a grasping.^[2][4]
2. An arrest, apprehension.^[2][4]
3. A region or zone; inclusion in a description.^[2]
4. Scope, range; a comprehensive statement; a dilemma.^[2]
5. (philosophy) Mental grasp, perception, comprehension.^[4][5]
6. (rhetoric) A period, the grouping of words in a sentence.^[2][4]
7. A grouping under a head, classification.^[2]
8. (Medieval Latin) The appropriation of waste land for cultivation; the reclaimed land.^[6]
9. (Medieval Latin, with furis) The right or duty to seize a thief.^[7]

Related words

• comprehendō
• comprehēnsibilis
• comprehēnsīvus
• comprehēnsō
• English comprehension

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de