effusio

Forms

effūsiō f (genitive effūsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin effundō (“to pour out, shed”) + -tiō, an action noun.^[2][1][3] That verb is a compound of ex- (“out”) and fundō¹ (“to pour”),^[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *ǵhu-n-d- (“to pour”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short call it a Ciceronian word;^[6] Cicero writes that cuttlefish protect themselves by squirting ink, ātrāmentī effūsiōne, and uses it of the fluidity of water.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also uses it of crowds streaming out of towns, of lavish spending, often in the plural pecūniārum effūsiōnēs, and of unrestrained feeling, effūsiō animī in laetitiā, an outpouring of the mind in joy.^[2][6] The TLL finds it once in Livy and in Vitruvius, Columella and Pliny the Younger, and more often later.^[3] Vitruvius uses it of rays sent out from the eyes,^[7] and the Vulgate of the shedding of blood, effūsiō sanguinis.^[6][7] In Ecclesiastical Latin it is a pouring forth or shedding,^[8] and in medieval Latin the shedding of blood, childbirth,^[9] a flow of tears or other bodily fluids,^[10] a downpour, a spilling or leakage, and in philosophy an emanation.^[11] English effusion comes from it, partly through Old French.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a cuttlefish's ink, of crowds, of lavish spending and of feeling.^[2][6][12]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of rays sent out from the eyes.^[7][12]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the shedding of blood.^[6][12]
• c. 1400 – English effusion is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pouring out, a discharge of fluid; an emission of light or rays.^[2][6][7]
2. An unrestrained display of feeling.^[2][6]
3. A streaming out of crowds.^[2][6]
4. Lavish spending, prodigality.^[2][6]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A shedding, especially of blood.^[8][9]
6. (Medieval Latin) Childbirth.^[9]

Related words

• effundō
• effūsus
• English effusion

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de