conversio

Forms

conversiō f (genitive conversiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from convertō “to turn round” with the suffix -tiō.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL says it is found from the Rhetorica ad Herennium onwards, and the OLD's earliest citation for a rhetorical figure is from it.^[3][2] Köbler dates it 86/82 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a turning round, rotation, revolution, as Cicero's conversiōnēs astrōrum “the revolutions of the stars”, and a partial turn.^[2][5] It meant turning upside down, inversion, in medicine a prolapse, a change, a political upheaval, as in Cicero, and in Quintilian a paraphrase.^[2] In rhetoric it named several figures: the repetition of a word at the end of clauses, antistrophe, the transposition of words, as “one must eat to live, not live to eat”, the turning of an opponent's argument, and a period.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a moral change, conversion.^[6] Medieval Latin used it of conversion and of taking monastic vows.^[7] English conversion came in the mid-14th century through Old French, first of religious conversion.^[8]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of a figure of speech.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the revolutions of the stars.^[5][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of paraphrase.^[2][4]
• mid-14th century – English conversion is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A turning round, rotation, revolution.^[2]
2. An inversion; a prolapse.^[2]
3. A change; an upheaval; a paraphrase.^[2]
4. (rhetoric) Antistrophe; transposition; a period.^[2]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Conversion, (Medieval Latin) taking monastic vows.^[6][7]

Related words

• convertō
• vertō
• English conversion

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com