expugnatio

Forms

expugnātiō f (genitive expugnātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin expugnō (“to take by storm”) + -tiō.^[2][1] expugnō is a compound of ex- and pugnō (“to fight”), from pūgna (“fight”), which de Vaan treats with pūgnus (“fist”) under pungō (“to prick”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] who in the speech on Pompey's command says the arrival of Roman officials in allied cities differed little from an enemy's storming of them.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is the taking of a fortified place by assault: Caesar speaks of the storming of a town and of a camp, Suetonius of the storming of Mytilene,^[5] and Velleius of fighting now in battle, now in sieges.^[5] Cicero uses the plural of night-time break-ins into houses.^[5] By extension it is ruin.^[2] In Medieval Latin it is an attack.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of storming allied cities.^[5][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of the storming of a town and a camp.^[5]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of the storming of Mytilene.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The taking of a place by assault, storming.^[2][5][1]
2. (plural) Break-ins, burglaries (of houses).^[5]
3. (figurative) Ruin.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) An attack.^[6]

Related words

• expugnō
• oppugnātiō
• pugna

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill