defectio

Forms

dēfectiō f (genitive dēfectiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from dēficiō (“to fail, revolt”) with the suffix -tiō.^[2][3][1] ⟨Dēficiō⟩ is a compound of dē- and faciō (“to make, do”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *faki- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Cicero as its first author,^[5] who uses it of a failure of courage, of the eclipses of sun and moon, and of a general revolt of the barbarians.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a falling short or failure, as Cicero's fear of his own “failure of spirit”, and in Pliny the Elder weakness or faintness.^[2] Cicero has it of eclipses, and Gellius as a grammatical term for ellipsis.^[2] It is also the deserting of an alliance, a defection or revolt, frequent in Caesar and Livy, as in Caesar's “rebellion after surrender”.^[2][6]

In Church Latin it is a failing, a ceasing, sin, and defection, and in medieval Latin also dread or despair and decay.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of failure, eclipses and revolt.^[2][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of rebellion.^[6][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of faintness.^[2][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius of grammatical ellipsis.^[2][5]
• 1540s – Borrowed into English as defection.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A falling short, failure, deficiency; weakness, faintness, (grammar) ellipsis.^[2][1]
2. An eclipse (of the sun or moon).^[2][1]
3. Defection, desertion, revolt.^[2][1][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) Dread, despair; decay.^[8]

Related words

• dēficiō
• dēfectus
• rebelliō
• English defection

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com