convulsio

Forms

convulsiō f (genitive convulsiōnis); third declension^[1] It is also spelled convolsio.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin convellō (“to tear loose, dislodge”) + -tiō.^[2][1][4] The verb convellō belongs to the family of vellō (“to pull out”),^[5] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *weln-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ul-n(e)-h₃- (“to strike”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears as a medical term in Scribonius Largus, in the plural, for cramps or convulsions.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical medicine it meant a violent wrenching of a part or organ of the body, a dislocation, cramp or convulsion,^[2][6] and Pliny the Elder uses it in this sense.^[6][7]

Later writers used it more generally of an upheaval or disturbance: a panegyric speaks of the Roman empire made firm at last after a long upheaval, and church writers of the disturbance of the faith.^[4][3] In medieval charters it could mean a curtailment or diminution of a right.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses the plural for cramps.^[6][9]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it as a medical term.^[6][9]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of tearing down a hedge and a wall.^[4][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) A violent displacement of a part of the body, dislocation; cramp, convulsion.^[2][6]
2. (Late Latin) An upheaval, disturbance.^[4][3]
3. (Medieval Latin) A curtailment, diminution.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de