faeneratio

Forms

faenerātiō f (genitive faenerātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin faenerō (“to lend at interest”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] The verb comes from fēnus (“interest”), which de Vaan, if the form with ⟨fē-⟩ is the original one, derives from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-ne/os- (“yield”), like fēnum “hay”.^[4] Lewis and Short call the spellings ⟨fēn-⟩ and ⟨foen-⟩ less correct.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Cicero, of the lending of money at interest.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the Pro Flacco Cicero complains of public money turned from honours to profit and usury, and in the Verrines he uses it of lending at high rates.^[5][6] Figuratively he says that a favour done for one's own sake is not a kindness but a loan at interest, and Seneca makes the same point in De beneficiis.^[5][6] Columella names it in the preface of his work on agriculture.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of usury and, figuratively, of a self-interested favour.^[5][6][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a favour done in hope of return.^[6][7]
• 1st century AD – Columella mentions it.^[5][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The lending of money at interest, usury.^[2][5][6]
2. (figurative) A favour done in expectation of a return.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
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 e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de