damno

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈdam.noː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdam.no]^[1]

Forms

damnō (present infinitive damnāre, perfect active damnāvī, supine damnātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from damnum “loss, penalty” with the verbal suffix -ō.^[2][1][3] ⟨Damnum⟩ goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dh₂pnóm, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to divide, apportion”).^[1] Vulgar and Late Latin also spell it ⟨dampnō⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of condemning.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to pass judgement against, condemn, as Cicero's ille quoque damnātus est, for a crime or to a penalty, and to secure someone's condemnation, as in Plautus.^[2][6] It meant to judge at fault, find fault with, to renounce or reject, as in Seneca, and to discredit by comparison.^[2] It meant to deliver someone by sentence, to doom to a fate, as in Ovid, and with vōtī to oblige a god to fulfil a vow, as in Nepos, and under a will to bind, as in Horace.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to condemn.^[7] It survives in Italian dannare, Spanish dañar and Romanian dăuna.^[1] English damn came through Old French dampner in the late 13th century as a legal term.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of condemning.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of condemnation for crimes.^[2][6][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of dooming to a fate.^[2][5]
• late 13th century – English damn is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To condemn, sentence.^[2]
2. To secure the condemnation of.^[2]
3. To find fault with; to reject.^[2]
4. To doom (to a fate).^[2]
5. vōtī damnāre, to oblige to fulfil a vow.^[2]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To damn.^[7]

Word family

• condemnō
• damnābilis
• damnātīcius
• damnātiō
• damnātor
• dedamno
• indemnātus
• praedamnō
• damnōsus

Related words

• damnum
• English damn

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson