Etymologically
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decretalis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 01:40. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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]

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