concentus

Forms

concentus m (genitive concentūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin concinō (“to sing together”) + -tus.^[2][3] De Vaan traces canō (“to sing”) to Proto-Italic *kan-e(je)- and Proto-Indo-European *kh₂n-e- (“to sing”).^[4] The TLL thinks Cicero probably coined the noun, pairing it with ⟨cōnsēnsus⟩ to render Ancient Greek συμπάθεια (sumpátheia);^[3] Vitruvius equates it with συμφωνία (sumphōnía).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[5] who speaks of the singing of birds.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a singing or playing together, a song or tune, and by metonymy a choir: Cicero says that not only bands and choirs but single singers out of tune are hissed off.^[2] It is a harmonious combination of sounds, and ⟨concentum servāre⟩ is to keep in tune: Cicero writes of the harmony made from very unlike voices.^[2] Transferred, it is agreement or harmony of other things, as of the stars moving in unlike courses.^[2] Tacitus uses it of a shout in unison, an acclamation.^[2] Lewis & Short call it classical.^[6] Church Latin glosses it harmony, concord, agreement.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of birdsong, choirs and the harmony of the stars.^[2][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius, rendering sumphōnía.^[3][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of an acclamation.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A singing or playing together; a song, tune; a choir.^[2][6][1]
2. An acclamation, shouting in unison.^[2][1]
3. Harmony, concord of sounds.^[2][6][7]
4. Agreement, concord, unanimity.^[2][1][7]

Related words

• concentiō
• concentor
• concinō
• canō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson