Etymologically
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disfacio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɪfˈfa.ki.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [disˈfaː.t͡ʃi.o][1]

Forms

disfaciō (present infinitive disfacere, perfect active disfēcī, supine disfactum); third (-iō variant) conjugation[1] Medieval spellings include diffaciō, deffaciō and defaciō.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin dis- (“un-”) + faciō (“to do, make”).[1][3] The MLW compares Old French desfaire,[3] and the DMLBS connects the British uses with Old French desfacier.[4] Etymonline gives the source of the Old French verb as Vulgar Latin *diffaciō (“undo, destroy”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wiktionary dates its first record to AD 779.[1] In the Frankish capitularies the MLW cites it of a count who kills or maims a man out of hatred or malice rather than in doing justice.[3]

Semantic evolution

In early medieval Latin it meant to demolish a building, to destroy, to maim and to do violence to someone.[2][1] The MLW records it of a charter of freedom that has been done away with, and figuratively in the sense of bringing to nothing or frustrating.[3] Du Cange cites a charter of 941 that forbids the heirs to break or undo its terms, and has it in the general sense of abolishing or making void.[6]

In England the Pipe Rolls use it for the mutilation of convicted men, such as a false moneyer; it was also said of things damaged or destroyed, such as a village destroyed when the king had his ditch dug, and of acts that were undone.[4] The verb lives on in the Romance languages: Italian disfare, Spanish deshacer, Romanian desface and Old French desfaire.[1] From the past participle of the Old French verb, through Anglo-French, English took defeat.[5]

Timeline

  • 779 – First recorded.[1]
  • 941 – A charter forbids anyone to break or undo (disfacere) its terms.[6]
  • 1155 – The English Pipe Rolls record a payment for mutilating a false moneyer.[4]
  • 1174 – A pact between the Sultan and the Pisans uses it.[6]
  • late 14th century – English defeten comes, through Anglo-French, from the Old French past participle desfait.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (Medieval Latin) To pull down, demolish (a building).[2][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) To destroy, do away with.[2][3][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To maim, mutilate; also to kill.[2][3][4]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To do violence to, hurt.[2][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) To annul, make void, undo.[3][6][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e 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
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre