dispositio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [dɪs.pɔˈsɪ.ti.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [dis.poˈs̬it.t͡si.o]^[1]

Forms

dispositiō f (genitive dispositiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from dispōnō “to arrange, set in order” with the suffix -tiō; ⟨dispōnō⟩ is from dis- and pōnō “to place”.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is the Rhetorica ad Herennium, which he dates 86/82 BC, and Lewis & Short cite it and Cicero's De inventione for the arrangement of a speech.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It was an arrangement, a regular disposition, in oratory the ordering of the arguments, as in Cicero and the Rhetorica ad Herennium; and a spatial arrangement, layout, formation, as in Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder.^[2][5][6] Seneca also uses it.^[6]

In Christian and Medieval Latin it was a state, plan; organisation, government, administration; divine providence, destiny; a decree, regulation; and the provision of a will.^[7][8] British Medieval Latin used it also in rhetoric, logic and mathematics.^[9] English disposition (late 14th century, “ordering, management”, and “tendency of mind”) came through Old French.^[3]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – the Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of oratory.^[5][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of layout.^[6][4]
• late 14th century – English disposition is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An arrangement, (rhetoric) the ordering of a speech.^[5]
2. A layout, formation.^[2]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Providence; government, administration.^[7][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) A decree; a provision of a will.^[7]

Related words

• dispōnō
• pōnō
• English disposition

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ 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