devastatio

Forms

dēvāstātiō f (genitive dēvāstātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēvāstō (“to lay waste”) + -tiō.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in Hilary of Poitiers' commentary on Psalm 13, which speaks of the devastatio plebis dei, “the laying waste of God's people”.^[2][3] Köbler dates Hilary to about 315–367 AD.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Georges and Gaffiot label it a word of Christian writers.^[5][6] It occurs in the chronicle of Marcellinus, in the Opus imperfectum on Matthew and in Gregory of Tours' history, and Cassiodorus uses it for the person who lays waste.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it was common in capitularies, charters and chronicles for the ravaging of a kingdom or land; in law it named the damaging use of property granted for a term, and more widely an affliction or calamity.^[7] Hungarian charters use it of the destruction of the kingdom by the Tartars and also of maltreatment.^[8] English devastation dates from the mid-15th century.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 315–367 AD – Hilary of Poitiers uses it of the laying waste of God's people.^[2][3][4]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it for one who lays waste.^[2][4]
• 6th century AD – Marcellinus uses it in his chronicle.^[2][4]
• 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses it in his history of the Franks.^[2][4]
• 1260 – An entry in the English Close Rolls speaks of setting out to lay waste parts of the March.^[10]
• 1359 – A Polish document tells of a harvest lost to the devastation of locusts.^[11]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as devastation.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A laying waste, devastation, ravaging.^{[5][6][2][7][10]}
2. (Late Latin) One who lays waste, a devastator.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin, law) Waste, damaging use of property held for a term.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Affliction, calamity; maltreatment.^[7][8]

Related words

• English devastation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b 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
11. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl