conclusio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [kɔŋˈkɫuː.si.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koŋˈkluː.s̬i.o]^[1]

Forms

conclūsiō f (genitive conclūsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from conclūdō “to shut up, conclude” with the suffix -tiō.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL says it is a prose word found from the Rhetorica ad Herennium, and the OLD's earliest citations are from it.^[3][2] Köbler dates it 86/82 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In military use it meant a state of siege, a blockade, as in Caesar and Nepos.^[2][5] In Vitruvius it meant an enclosing and a fastening.^[2] It meant finishing, completion, as in Cicero, and in rhetoric the conclusion of a speech, the peroration, and the rounded arrangement of a sentence, a period.^[2] In logic it meant the deducing of a proof, a syllogism, and in Quintilian its conclusion.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant ending, termination, closing, conclusion.^[6] British Medieval Latin also used it in medicine of the closing of the eyes.^[7] English conclusion came in the late 14th century through Old French.^[8]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of the peroration and of a syllogism.^[2][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a blockade.^[2][5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a period.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English conclusion is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) A blockade.^[2]
2. An enclosing; a fastening.^[2]
3. Completion, (rhetoric) the peroration.^[2]
4. (rhetoric) A period.^[2]
5. (logic) A syllogism; a conclusion.^[2]

Word family

• conclūsiuncula

Related words

• conclūdō
• claudō
• English conclusion

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ 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