dispersio

Forms

dispersiō f (genitive dispersiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dispergō + -tiō, from the past participle stem of dispergō (“to scatter”).^[1][2][3] That verb is formed dis- and spargō (“to scatter, strew”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it with certainty from Tertullian on,^[2] who speaks of the scattering of a people or nation.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A reading in Cicero's Philippics, “the destruction of the city”, is doubtful: editors also read dispertitio there.^[2][5][6] In Christian Latin it rendered Greek words for scattering, above all the Jews dispersed among the nations (Vulgate, John 7:35),^[2][3] and Vegetius uses it for horses scattered while grazing.^[3][5]

Medieval Latin used it for the dispersal of people and of the Jews,^[7][8] for those who are scattered,^[8] for the spreading of news, for squandering and for destruction,^[9][7] and, in Roger Bacon, for the dispersion of light.^[7] English took it over in the late 14th century, first for the Jewish diaspora.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian speaks of the scattering of a people.^[3][2][10]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for the dispersion of the Gentiles.^[3][10]
• c. 400 AD – Vegetius uses it of grazing horses scattered about.^[3][10]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it of an army scattered.^[3][10]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the twelve tribes “in the dispersion”.^[7][10]
• late 14th century – English borrows it, through Old French, as dispersion.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A scattering, dispersion.^[3][5][1]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The dispersion of the Jews among the nations, the diaspora.^[7][11]
3. Destruction (of a city; a doubtful reading in Cicero).^[3][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) Those who have been scattered.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) The squandering of goods or money.^[7][9]

Usage notes

A grammarian's note in the TLL says that dispersio is properly written with e, while -sparsio is found in manuscripts of the Itala and in Jerome and Cassian.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f 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
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson