decretalis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [deː.kreːˈtaː.lɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [de.kreˈtaː.lis]^[1]

Forms

dēcrētālis (neuter dēcrētāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēcrētum (“decree”) + -ālis, from dēcernō “to decide”.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Ulpian, and Gaffiot cites him in the Digest.^[3][4] Köbler dates Ulpian before 223 AD.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A post-classical legal word, it meant depending on a magistrate's ruling or a judge's decree, as of a succession to goods in the Digest.^[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means of a decree.^[6] Medieval Latin used it as a noun, dēcrētālis (epistola), for a decretal, a papal letter answering a point of law.^[7] English decretal, French décrétale and German Dekretale are from it.^[1][3]

Timeline

• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it.^[4][3]
• 511–695 – Church councils use it.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Depending on a decree, ordered by decree.^[2][4]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A decretal, a papal letter on a point of law.^[7]

Related words

• dēcrētum
• dēcernō
• English decretal

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill