conscriptio

Forms

cōnscrīptiō f (genitive cōnscrīptiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cōnscrībō + -tiō.^[2][1] The simple verb scrībō (“to write”) goes back to Proto-Italic *skreif-e/o- (“to carve”) and Proto-Indo-European *skreibʰ-e/o- (“to carve”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example is in Cicero's Pro Cluentio, of false written records of examinations.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Vitruvius uses it for writings and treatises on architecture,^[2][6] and in Late Latin it was common for any writing, account or composition, as in Arnobius and Augustine.^[6][4] Lewis and Short note that the abstract sense, the drawing up of a writing, as in Sidonius' composition of a booklet, is rarer than the concrete one.^[7] Biblical and legal texts give it narrower senses: a marriage contract in the Vulgate's Tobit, a written charge in an Old Latin version of Job, a written disposition among heirs in the Theodosian Code, and a written bond in Justinian's Novels.^[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant a document or a written agreement,^[8] a charter, and the alienation of property by charter.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of false written records of examinations.^[2]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it for writings on architecture.^[2][10]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it for histories and writings.^[6]
• 321 – The Theodosian Code uses it of written dispositions among heirs.^[6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for a marriage contract.^[6]
• before 738 – Boniface uses it in a letter for the writing down of sentences.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A written record; an account, treatise.^[2][7]
2. The drawing up of a writing, composition.^[7][4][5]
3. (Late Latin) A written bond or contract.^[6][8]
4. (Late Latin) A written accusation.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin) A charter; alienation (of property) by charter.^[9][8]

Related words

• cōnscrībō
• scrībō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de