configuratio

Forms

cōnfigūrātiō f (genitive cōnfigūrātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cōnfigūrō (“to fashion after a pattern”) + -tiō, a noun of action.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian is its first author: in De pudicitia he uses it for a likeness, a similar formation or symbolic image.^{[4][2][5][6][7]}

Semantic evolution

Late Latin writers used it of likeness and of shape: Hilary in his commentary on the Psalms and Augustine use it of the form of the body.^[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant the conforming or assimilating of one thing to another.^[8][9] About 1180 Hugo of Honau defines it as corporalis figurae conmensurata coaequatio, “the measured matching of bodily shape”, and also uses it in the theatre for an imitation true to life.^[8] Theologians used it of a likeness in which one thing shares in another, and it was also a term of grammar;^[8] the DMLBS records the sense “similarity in form”.^[10] Polish sources also have cōnfigūrātiō caelī, the position of the stars in relation to one another.^[11]

English took configuration in the 1550s, meaning the shape that comes from the arrangement of parts.^[3] Wiktionary lists Italian configurazione, French configuration and Spanish configuración among its descendants.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for a likeness or symbolic image.^[4][2][7]
• c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary uses it of the shape of the body.^[6][7]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of bodily form.^[6][7]
• c. 1180 – Hugo of Honau defines it as the measured matching of bodily shape.^[8]
• 1550s – English borrows configuration.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A similar formation; likeness, resemblance; a symbolic image.^[4][2][5][6]
2. (Late Latin) Bodily form, conformation.^[6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A conforming or assimilation to a model or likeness.^[8][9][11]
4. (Medieval Latin) A faithful imitation or representation, as on the stage.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) Likeness of form, correspondence in shape.^[8][10][7]
6. (Medieval Latin) cōnfigūrātiō caelī: the arrangement of the stars in the sky.^[11]

Related words

• English configuration

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
10. ^ a b 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
11. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl