conventum

Forms

conventum n (genitive conventī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin conveniō (“to come together, agree”), the neuter of its perfect participle used as a noun.^[2][3][4] That verb is a compound of com- and veniō (“to come”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *gʷn-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷm-ie/o- (“to come”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, of agreements kept without laws, and in Cicero,^[6][7] who speaks of constancy and truth in what is said and agreed.^[6][4][8]

Semantic evolution

It was mainly a legal word for an agreement between parties: Cicero has stāre conventīs, to abide by agreements, and the pair pactum conventum, “a pact agreed”, or pacta conventa, which recurs in the jurists and in a formula from Baetica.^[6][4][8] Livy speaks of arbiters of agreements, and Gellius of a secret agreement between two people about changing the order of letters.^[6][4] The word is still used in the Code of Justinian in 530.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of agreements and in the phrase pactum conventum.^[6][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy speaks of arbiters of agreements.^[6][7]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a secret agreement.^[6][7]
• 530 AD – A law in the Code of Justinian uses it.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An agreement, compact, covenant.^[2][3][4]
2. pactum conventum, pacta conventa: an agreed pact, agreements stipulated.^[6][8]

Usage notes

It is distinct from conventus, an assembly or meeting, though both come from the same verb.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier