concerno

Forms

concernō (present infinitive concernere, perfect active concrēvī, supine concrētum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- (“with, together”) + cernō (“to sift, discern”).^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Augustine uses it in the Confessions (5.10) of mixing things together as in a sieve.^[4][5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The Late Latin sense is “to sift together, mix”, which glosses also give for the participle concrētus, “mixed”.^[2][4] Jerome has it once in the sense of cernō, “to see”.^[2] In Medieval Latin it came to mean “to consider, observe” and “to concern, relate to”;^[8][9] British writers use it of these senses from Roger Bacon on, and the present participle concernēns means “concerning, touching”.^[9] The medieval word is the source of English concern, partly through Old French.^[3]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of mixing together in a sieve.^[4][7]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it for “to see”.^[2][7]
• 13th century – Roger Bacon uses it of considering and of what something concerns.^[9]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as concern, “to perceive; to relate to”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To mix, mingle together, as in a sieve.^[4][5][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) To consider, observe, regard.^[8][9][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) To concern, relate to, pertain to;^[8][9][10] (present participle) concerning.^[8][9][10]

Related words

• concrētus
• English concern

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften