designatio

Forms

dēsignātiō f (genitive dēsignātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēsignō (“to mark out, designate”) + -tiō.^[2][3][1] Manuscripts often confuse it with ⟨dissignātiō⟩, especially in the sense “arrangement”,^[2] and Lewis & Short think the spelling with ⟨diss-⟩ the better one there.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Cicero.^[5] In De oratore he speaks of speech that goes on without any specification of persons and times, and in a letter to Atticus he praises the arrangement Tyrannio had given to the books of his library.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The Classical range runs from marking out and specifying to arrangement and appointment.^[2][4] Vitruvius uses it for the marking out of a part of a plan and for a square figure or diagram,^[2][4] and Tacitus for the appointment of magistrates before they took office, as when he speaks of men made proud even by a designation for a single year.^[2]

Ecclesiastical Latin used it for a disposition or arrangement.^[6] Medieval writers in Germany used it for an indication or exact description, a name or definition, a symbolic representation, an election or nomination, and the assignment or conveyance of property,^[7] and British sources for the plan of a building and for a foreshadowing.^[8] English took it over in the late 14th century as designacioun, in the sense of pointing or marking out.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of specification and of the arrangement of a library.^[2][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it for a marking out and a diagram.^[2][4][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it for the appointment of magistrates.^[2][5]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as designation.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A marking out, demarcation;^[2][4] a figure or diagram.^[2]
2. A specification.^[2][4][7]
3. An arrangement, disposition, layout.^[2][6]
4. Appointment to an office before entering on it, election.^[2][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A name or definition; a symbolic representation.^[7]
6. (Medieval Latin) An indication; a foreshadowing.^[8][7]
7. (Medieval Latin) The design or plan of a building.^[8]
8. (Medieval Latin) An assignment or conveyance of property.^[7]

Related words

• dēsignātē
• dēsignātor
• dēsignātus
• dēsignō
• signō
• English designation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. ^ a b c d e f 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com