emergentia

Forms

ēmergentia f (genitive ēmergentiae); first declension; also neuter plural ēmergentia (genitive ēmergentium)^[1][2] Also spelled emergencia.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ēmergō (“to rise out, come to light”): a noun made from its present participle ⟨ēmergēns⟩, both as a feminine singular and as a neuter plural “things that come up”.^[3][4][1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first example is in a charter of 1248, which gives the advocate a third of the emergentiae, the revenues or proceeds of an estate.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In charters it meant income that accrued, often casual or unexpected revenue, such as fees from a court.^[3][1] In England it was something that “crops up” beside the main matter, listed with incidentia and dependentia in a document of 1429.^[4] In Hungary, Bohemia and Poland it came to mean an event or occurrence, especially an unwelcome one, and in legal use a point arising in the course of a case;^[5][6][7] Polish sources also use it for a beginning or source.^[7]

Timeline

• 1248 – A charter uses the plural for revenues.^[3][2]
• about 1298 – It appears in British sources for unexpected income.^[2]
• 1429 – An English document lists it with incidentia and dependentia.^[4]
• 1490 – A Hungarian letter speaks of the emergentiae of the kingdom, its events.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) Revenue, proceeds; casual or unexpected income.^[3][1][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Something that crops up or accrues.^[4]
3. (Medieval Latin) An event, occurrence, especially an unexpected or adverse one.^[5][7]
4. (Medieval Latin, law) A matter arising in addition to the main case.^[6][7]

Related words

• English emergency

References

1. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
6. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
7. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl