extensio

Forms

extēnsiō f (genitive extēnsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from extendō “to stretch out” with the suffix -tiō.^[2][1][3] It is also written ⟨extentiō⟩.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ambrose, whom he dates c. 340–397 AD.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant stretching out, extension, the span covered by stretching, as of strings in Isidore and of limbs in Caelius Aurelianus.^[2][7][4] In Vegetius it meant a swelling.^[4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant extension, addition.^[8] Medieval Latin used it for spreading, expanse, and the surveying of land.^[9] British Medieval Latin used it for stretching taut and, in medicine, swelling.^[10] It survives in Italian estensione and French extension, and English extension came about 1400, “a swelling”.^[1][3]

Timeline

• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it.^[6]
• c. 400 AD – Vegetius uses it of a swelling.^[4][6]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore uses it of strings.^[7][6]
• c. 1400 – English extension is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Stretching out, extension; a span.^[2]
2. A swelling.^[4]
3. (Medieval Latin) Expanse; surveying.^[9]

Related words

• extendō
• tendō
• English extension
• English extend

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b 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
10. ^ 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