conquisitio

Forms

conquīsītiō f (genitive conquīsītiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin conquīrō + -tiō,^[2][1][3] the noun of action of conquīrō (“to seek out, collect”).^[4] That verb is a compound of com- and quaerō (“to seek”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,^[6] who speaks of an army brought together by the harshest levy (durissima conquisitione), and in his translation of the Timaeus in the sense of a search or inquiry.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical prose, where it is rare, it meant the levying of soldiers, as often in Livy, and the raising of money, as in Tacitus.^[2][4][3] It also meant a search, either for things or in the mind: Cicero writes that in every inquiry the start of the reasoning is the hardest part.^[2][4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it could mean a discussion or dispute.^[7] In medieval charters it meant an acquisition and the property acquired, a conquest, and also a feudal relief.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a levy of troops and of a search.^[2][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it for the levying of soldiers.^[2][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it for the raising of money.^[2][6]
• 799/803 – A charter of St Gall uses it for an acquisition.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The levying of troops; recruitment.^[2][4][3]
2. The raising or requisition of money.^[2]
3. A search, physical or mental; an inquiry.^[2][4]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A discussion, dispute.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) An acquisition; acquired property.^[8][9]
6. (Medieval Latin) A conquest.^[8][9]
7. (Medieval Latin) A feudal relief.^[8]

Related words

• conquīsītor

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften