Etymologically

concessus

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Forms

concessus m (genitive concessūs); fourth declension[1] Classical writers use it almost only in the ablative concessū.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin concēdō (“to give way, grant”) + -tus.[5][3][1] That verb is a compound of con- and cēdō1 (“to go, yield”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kesd-e/o- (“to go away, avoid”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,[7] who writes that by everyone's leave, concessu omnium, some play is allowed to youth.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

It meant leave or permission, usually with the genitive of the one who grants it: Caesar has Caesaris concessu, Cicero concessu et beneficio, by someone's leave and kindness, and concessu et munere deorum, and Tacitus the leave of the senators.[2][3] A nominative is found only in Capitolinus.[3]

In medieval Latin it was the same as concessiō.[9] Charters in Britain use it of permission, as in a grant of 957, and the Domesday Book says that no one may hold land except by the king's leave; it could also mean a document attesting permission.[10]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of something allowed by everyone's leave.[2][8][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar writes Caesaris concessu.[2][3][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus writes of the senators' leave.[3][7]
  • 957 – A charter uses it of the grantor's permission.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Permission, leave, consent, concession.[5][2][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A document attesting permission.[10]

Word family

  • inconcessus

Usage notes

The OLD also lists the participle concessus as an adjective, “allowed, lawful”:[5] Cicero has quaestus concessus, lawful gain, and pro concesso sumere, to take as granted.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ 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