eiectio

Forms

ēiectiō f (genitive ēiectiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ēiciō + -tiō, from the verb meaning “to cast out”.^[2][1][3] ēiciō is a compound of iaciō (“to throw”), which de Vaan traces back to Proto-Italic *jak-i- (“to throw”) and Proto-Indo-European *(H)ih₁-k-(i-) (“to throw, let go”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero (81–43 BC),^[3][5] meaning banishment from one's country: in a letter to Atticus he writes mortem et eiectionem quasi maiora timemus (“we fear death and exile as if they were greater evils”).^[2]

Semantic evolution

L&S calls the word very rare in Classical Latin.^[6] Besides exile, Vitruvius has it for the spitting of blood,^[2][6] and Caelius Aurelianus for the dislocation of a joint.^[6] The Vulgate uses it in Lamentations.^[6]

In medieval Latin it meant a driving out of people in general, also of demons,^[7] and a repudiation;^[7] British writers used it for the expulsion of a person, Bede of the casting out of Ishmael,^[8] and in law for an ousting or ejectment.^[8] Ecclesiastical dictionaries give banishment and exile.^[9] English took it as ejection in the 1560s, from French and directly from Latin.^[10]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of banishment.^[2][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it for the spitting of blood.^[2][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has it in Lamentations.^[6][5]
• 1560s – English borrows it as ejection.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. Expulsion from one's country, banishment, exile.^[2][6]
2. A spitting (of blood).^[2][6]
3. Dislocation (of a joint).^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin) A driving out of a person; the casting out of demons.^[7][8]
5. (Medieval Latin, law) Ejectment, ousting from a property.^[8]

Related words

• English ejection

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com