financia

Forms

financia f (genitive financiae); first declension^[1] Also spelled finantia, the head the MLW and the DMLBS use.^[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French finance (“payment, settlement”), according to the MLW;^[1] the DMLBS compares affinantia as well as the Old French noun.^[2] The French noun was formed from finer (“to end, to settle a debt”), from fin (“end”),^[4] which goes back to Latin fīnis (“end”).^[4] Köbler derives the Latin word from fīnō (“to end, settle”) and ⟨fīnis⟩.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The MLW's first example is a charter of 1248 from Luxembourg, in which creditors declare that they have received no payment and no financia, a levy or payment of money.^[1][3]

Semantic evolution

The word named a tax or levy^[5][6][1] and in British sources a fine, settlement or due.^[2] Du Cange also records it for money in general, as a sum demanded of someone.^[6] A Hungarian decree of 1405 uses it in a sense the LLMAeH glosses, with a question mark, as the alloying of metal.^[7]

English borrowed finance from Old French about 1400, first in the sense “end, settlement”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1248 – A charter from Luxembourg uses it of a payment.^[1][3]
• 1305 – A French charter lists it among exactions.^[6]
• 1310 – The Gascon rolls use it of a fine or settlement.^[2]
• 1358 – Letters of King John of France speak of a financia pecuniaria.^[6]
• c. 1400 – English borrows the Old French word as finance.^[4]
• 1405 – A Hungarian decree uses it, perhaps of alloying.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A tax, levy, payment of money.^[5][6][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A fine, settlement, due.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) Money, a sum of money.^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin, Hungary) Perhaps the alloying of metal.^[7]

Related words

• finis
• English finance

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE