excrescentia

Forms

excrēscentia f (genitive excrēscentiae); first declension^[1][2][3] excrēscentia n pl (genitive excrēscentium); third declension^[4][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin excrēscō (“to grow out”), first as the neuter plural of the present participle used as a noun.^[4][2][5] The verb is formed from ex- and crēscō (“to grow”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder uses the neuter plural in medical passages of the Natural History for morbid growths on the body.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Latin made a feminine singular of it, used for growth and increase, for a surplus,^[7][3][8] for a flood,^[3] in medicine for an outgrowth such as a polyp,^[3][8] and in law and administration for interest or profit.^[3] English borrowed it in the early 15th century as excrescence, first meaning the action of growing out.^[5]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the neuter plural for morbid growths.^[4][2]
• 4th century AD – Julius Valerius has a passage that Georges and Gaffiot read as a feminine meaning “height”.^[1][2]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as excrescence.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (plural, medicine) Morbid excrescences, growths on the body.^[4][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Growth, increase; a surplus.^[7][3][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) A flood.^[3]
4. (Medieval Latin, medicine) An outgrowth.^[3][8]
5. (Medieval Latin, law) Interest, profit.^[3]

Usage notes

Classical Latin knows the word only as a neuter plural;^[4] Lewis & Short treat it under excrēscō.^[4] Georges and Gaffiot also give a feminine singular meaning “height”, of a citron tree, from Julius Valerius,^[1][2] but the TLL says that this passage has been wrongly interpreted.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften