fermentatio

Forms

fermentātiō f (genitive fermentātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin fermentō (“to leaven, ferment”) + -tiō.^[1][2][3] The verb comes from fermentum (“yeast, ferment”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer(H)-mn̥ (“ferment”), probably from the root of ferveō (“to boil”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian uses it of leavening, in a passage on the parable of the leaven that the kingdom of God is like.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it was a rare word for leavening; a single passage in Liberatus uses it for a union of natures, which Lewis and Short think may stand for ferrumentatio.^[2][5]

Medieval writers used it for fermentation in a wider sense: Albertus Magnus applies it to processes in the body, such as the working of semen and of milk in the stomach.^[6][3] British sources have it for mixing with yeast, for a taint or corruption in a charter dated 943 (in a 13th-century copy), and as a term of alchemy.^[7] English took it over in alchemy in the late 14th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of the leaven in the parable.^[2][3]
• 943 – A charter (in a 13th-century copy) uses it for a corrupting influence.^[7]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it of fermentation in the body.^[6][3]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as fermentation, in alchemy.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Leavening, fermentation.^[2][7][6]
2. (Late Latin) A union (of natures); possibly a mistake for ferrumentatio.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin) Taint, corruption.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) Growth, development.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin, alchemy) Fermentation as a stage of the work.^[7]

Related words

• English fermentation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d e 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
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com