convocatio

Forms

convocātiō f (genitive convocātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin convocō + -tiō, from the verb meaning to call together.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in his speech of thanks to the senate after his return: there was no calling together of the Roman people to defend the state.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare in Classical Latin.^[4] Paulus' epitome of Festus explains contio as if it were convocatio, and Augustine distinguishes a congregatio, said rather of herds, from a convocatio of human beings.^[4] Isidore of Seville says that the Greek word ecclesia is rendered in Latin by convocatio, because the Church calls all to itself.^[5]

Medieval Latin used it for the calling together of the faithful (Walahfrid Strabo speaks of trumpets used for it) or of citizens, for a summons before a court, for a call to faith or office, for the assembly itself and, after Isidore, for the Church.^[6][7] English convocation (late 14th century) comes from it, partly through French.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a calling together of the Roman people.^[2][9]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine sets the convocatio of people against the congregatio of herds.^[4][9]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville gives it as the Latin for ecclesia.^[5][9]
• 2nd quarter of the 9th century – Walahfrid Strabo speaks of trumpets used for calling the faithful together.^[6][9]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as convocation.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A calling together, convocation, assembling.^[2][3]
2. (Late and Medieval Latin) An assembly, gathering.^[6][7][1]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The Church, the community of Christians.^[5][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) A summons, a citation before a court; a call to faith or to an office.^[6]

Related words

• English convocation

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de