Etymologically
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functio

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfuːŋk.ti.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfuŋk.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

fūnctiō f (genitive fūnctiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fungor (“to perform, discharge”) + -tiō.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in the Tusculan Disputations, defines labour as a certain performance of a heavy task of mind or body.[3][4] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the performance or discharge of a task or duty, as Cicero's performance of a public service, and Lewis & Short call it Ciceronian but very rare.[2][4] The jurists speak of things that functionem recipiunt, that is, fungible goods, and Arnobius uses it of the end of life, death.[6][7]

In late imperial law it was the discharge of public burdens and the payment of taxes, as in the Codes.[7][6] In medieval Latin it meant a state levy of services, transport or goods, and an office or duty.[8][9][10] English function came from French and Latin in the 1530s, for one's proper work or purpose.[11]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the performance of a task.[3][5]
  • 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of death.[7][5]
  • 528–534 AD – The Code of Justinian uses it of public duties.[7][5]
  • 1530s – English function is recorded.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Performance, execution, discharge (of a task or duty).[2][1]
  2. (law) res quae functionem recipiunt, fungible things.[6]
  3. (Late Latin) Death.[6][7]
  4. (Late Latin) The payment of a tax; a public burden.[6][8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) An office, function.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b 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
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com