foederatio

Forms

foederātiō f (genitive foederātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin foederō (“to make a treaty; to unite”) + -tiō,^[1][2][3] and foederō comes from foedus² (“treaty, league”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Late Latin word,^[1][6] first found in Jerome, who calls the bond between a mother and her daughter secundaque post deum foederātiō, “the union next after God”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Rufinus used it of mystic unions in pagan rites, and the Latin version of Origen's On First Principles of the soul's union with the Word of God;^[2][7][8] Cassiodorus speaks of a wonderful union.^[2][7][8] Church writers kept the sense of a union or bond.^[3][9]

Medieval writers used it for any joining, marriage included, and for a peace treaty: the Frankish royal annals say that in 773 the march against the Saxons was left without any treaty.^[10] It also meant an alliance or league.^[11][6] It is the source of Italian federazione,^[7] and English federation (1721) came from French fédération.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 345–411/412 – Rufinus uses it of mystic unions.^[2][4]
• c. 383–419/420 – Jerome uses it of the bond of mother and daughter.^[2][4]
• c. 485–c. 580 – Cassiodorus uses it in his letters.^[8][4]
• 773 – The Frankish royal annals use it for a peace treaty.^[10]
• 1721 – English has federation, from French.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A union, joining, bond.^{[3][8][7][10]}
2. (Medieval Latin) A peace treaty.^[10][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) An alliance, league; a federation.^[11][6][9]

Related words

• foedus²
• cōnfoederātiō
• English federation

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d 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
7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill