Etymologically
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conquisitio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔŋ.kʷiːˈsiː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [koŋ.kʷiˈs̬it.t͡si.o][1]

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]
  • 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