Etymologically
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coniunctio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔnˈjuːŋk.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [konˈjuŋk.t͡si.o][1]

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]

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