eruptio

Forms

ēruptiō f (genitive ēruptiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from ērumpō (“to break out”) with the suffix -tiō.^[2][3][1] The verb is ex- (“out”) and rumpō (“to break”), which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *ru-n-p- (“to break”) and the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *Hru-n-p- (“to break”), cognate with Old English rēofan (“to break, tear”).^[4] Isidore of Seville gives it as the Latin for Greek ⟨rheuma⟩, a flux.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sisenna's histories are the OLD's earliest example, of a gate by which a sally could be made;^[2] Köbler gives Cicero.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a sudden rush of troops from a position, a sally or sortie.^[2][6] It is also a violent discharge of water, fire or bodily fluids, as Cicero's darkness spread by the eruption of Etna's fires, and figuratively an outburst of feeling, as the elder Seneca's tears, the breaking out of grief held back.^[2][6] Pliny the Elder uses it of plants sprouting from the ground and of an eruption of pimples on the skin.^[2][6]

Through Old French and directly it gave English eruption in the early 15th century.^[7]

Timeline

• 120–67 BC – Sisenna of a sally.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the eruption of Etna.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of sprouting plants.^[2][5]
• early 15th century – English eruption.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) A sally, sortie, onrush.^[2][6][1]
2. A bursting forth, eruption (of water, fire); an outburst (of feeling).^[2][6][1]
3. The sprouting (of plants); (medicine) an eruption on the skin.^[2]

Related words

• ērumpō
• rumpō
• irruptiō
• English eruption

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com