excessus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɛkˈskɛs.sʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ekˈʃɛs.sus]^[1]

Forms

excessus m (genitive excessūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from excēdō “to go out” with the suffix of action nouns -tus.^[2][1][3] A spelling ⟨excissus⟩ is also found.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot's earliest citations are from Cicero, of departure from life, excessus ē vītā.^[5] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant going away, departure, as in Velleius and Seneca, and especially departure from life, death, as Cicero's excessus ē vītā and excessus vītae, and in Tacitus alone.^[2][7][5] In Seneca it meant a digression, departure from a standard, and in Celsus a projection.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant excess, departure, transgression, loss of self-possession, death.^[8] Medieval Latin used it for a digression, ecstasy, a vision, and excess, exuberance.^[9] It survives in Italian eccesso and French excès, and English excess came in the late 14th century.^[1][3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of departure from life.^[5][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a digression.^[2][6]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of death.^[5][6]
• late 14th century – English excess is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Departure; death.^[2]
2. A digression.^[2]
3. A departure from a standard.^[2]
4. A projection.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) Ecstasy; excess.^[9]

Related words

• excēdō
• English excess
• English excessive

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill