Etymologically
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delatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈɫaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈlat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

dēlātiō f (genitive dēlātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēferō (“to bring down; to report, denounce”) + -tiō, from the participle stem ⟨dēlāt-⟩.[2][1][3] De Vaan explains the participle lātus of ferō as continuing an old participle of the root of tollō, Proto-Italic *tlāto-.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD and Köbler find it first in Cicero,[2][5] who in the speech against Caecilius discusses a contest over who should be given the right to prosecute.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a denunciation or accusation, the laying of a charge: dēlātiōnem dare is to grant someone the right to act as prosecutor, and dēlātiō nōminis the lodging of a name for prosecution.[2][6] Tacitus and Curtius use it of informing against people.[6][2] In law it is also the tendering of an oath, as in Ulpian.[2] Glosses explain it as a report or betrayal;[3] Servius glosses indicium with it and Macrobius equates it with Ancient Greek διαβολή (diabolḗ, “slander”).[3] Wiktionary adds the sense of carrying, conveyance.[1] Church Latin glosses it denunciation.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the right to prosecute.[2][6][5]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius of an accusation.[2][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of informing.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A denunciation, accusation;[2][6][1][7] dēlātiōnem dare, to grant the right to prosecute.[2][6][1][7]
  2. (law) The tendering of an oath.[2]
  3. A carrying, conveyance.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson