continuatio

Forms

continuātiō f (genitive continuātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin continuō (“to join together, prolong”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] Köbler connects it with contineō (“to hold together”);^[4] de Vaan lists that verb and continuus (“uninterrupted”) among the derivatives of teneō (“to hold”), from Proto-Italic *t(e)nē- and Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh1- (“to hold”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in the Rhetorica ad Herennium,^[3] which advises against a long verbōrum continuātiō, an unbroken run of words;^[2] Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Its classical senses are an unbroken series or connection: Cicero has the continuātiō seriēsque rērum, the succession and series of things, and the unchangeable connection of the eternal order.^[6][2] Caesar uses it of rain that went on without a break, and Livy of the prolonging of an office, as the tribunate, held again without a break.^[2][7][8] In rhetoric it is a period, a sentence of words joined together.^[2][8] Medieval writers in Britain use it of continuity in space and time and of the continuation of a history.^[9] English continuation came from Old French and directly from Latin in the late 14th century.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of continuous rain.^[2][8][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the series of things and of the order of nature.^[6][2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of holding an office again without a break.^[2][7][4]
• late 14th century – English borrows continuation.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Prolongation, continuation; the holding of an office without a break.^[2][7]
2. The fact of being uninterrupted, continuity; an unbroken succession.^[2][6]
3. An unbroken stretch; uninterrupted practice.^[2]
4. (rhetoric) A period, a sentence of words joined together.^[2][8]
5. (philosophy) Interconnection, concatenation of causes.^[2][6]
6. (Medieval Latin) A continuation or supplement of a history.^[9]

Related words

• continuus
• contineō
• English continuation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b 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
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com