condemno

Forms

condemnō (present infinitive condemnāre, perfect active condemnāvī, supine condemnātum); first conjugation^[1] An inscription has condumno, and manuscripts often spell it condempno.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin con- + damnō (“to condemn”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan lists it with damnō under damnum (“loss, damage”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *dapno- and Proto-Indo-European *dh₂p-no- (“expense, investment”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the TLL date it from Plautus,^[4][3] who has apud iūdicem hunc argentī condemnābō, “I'll get him condemned for the money before a judge”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Condemnāre is the legal term “to pass sentence on, condemn”, in criminal or civil cases, with the charge in the genitive and the penalty in the ablative or with ad; its opposite is absolvō.^[2][5][1] It is also “to condemn to pay”, “to bind to fulfil a promise”, and “to get someone condemned” as prosecutor.^[2][1] Figuratively it is “to convict” of an error, and “to blame, censure” (Cicero).^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “to condemn”.^[6] English condemn comes from it, partly through Old French, in the early 14th century.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: apud iūdicem hunc argentī condemnābō.^[2][8]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.^[2][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: hunc per iūdicem condemnābis.^[2][8]
• early 14th century – English condemn.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To condemn, sentence, convict.^[2][5][1][6]
2. To get (someone) condemned.^[2]
3. To accuse, charge.^[1]
4. To prove guilty (of an error).^[2]
5. To blame, censure.^[2]

Word family

• condemnabilis
• condemnātiō
• condemnātor
• incondemnātus

Related words

• damnō
• damnum
• absolvō
• English condemn

References

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