coniunctio

Forms

coniūnctiō f (genitive coniūnctiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin coniungō (“to join together”) + -tiō.^[2][3] De Vaan lists it under iungō (“to join, yoke”), from the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *(H)iu-n-g- (“to yoke”), cognate with Sanskrit युनज्मि (yunájmi, “I yoke”), Ancient Greek ζεύγνυμι (zeúgnumi, “to yoke”) and Lithuanian jùngti (“to join, yoke”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,^[4] who speaks of the union of fire and water.^[2] Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Poets avoid it and the older writers rarely use it; it is frequent in Cicero and Vitruvius.^[3] It is the joining of things and the point where they meet: Cicero describes part of a town, cut off by a narrow strait, joined again by a bridge where two harbours meet.^[2] Vitruvius uses it of a conjunction of heavenly bodies.^[2] In rhetoric and grammar it is the arrangement of words, the forming of a word from parts, and, in Cicero, a connecting particle, a conjunction.^[2] Between people it is a bond of friendship or alliance, as Cicero's union with Caesar, and a connection by marriage.^[2] In logic it is a compound proposition.^[2]

Church Latin has it for union, joining together.^[6] Medieval Latin used it for marriage, a bestowal, vassalage and an astronomical conjunction.^[7] English conjunction (late 14th century), first of planets meeting in the sky, came through Old French conjonction.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of the union of fire and water.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of friendship, marriage ties and grammatical conjunctions.^[2][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of the conjunction of heavenly bodies.^[2][5]
• late 14th century – English conjunction.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A joining together, union; a point of junction; a conjunction of heavenly bodies.^[2][9][1][6]
2. (rhetoric) The arrangement of words;^[2][1] (grammar) composition of a word; a connecting particle, conjunction.^[2][1]
3. A bond between people, friendship, alliance; a connection by marriage.^[2][1][7]
4. An affinity, connection;^[2][1] (logic) a compound proposition.^[2][1]
5. A combination; possession in common.^[2]
6. (Medieval Latin) A bestowal; vassalage.^[7]

Related words

• coniungō
• iungō
• English conjunction

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 n o p q 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 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 c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press