fusio

Forms

fūsiō f (genitive fūsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fundō¹ (“to pour”) + -tiō, built on ⟨fūs-⟩, the stem of the supine and participle;^[2][1] Wiktionary explains the /s/ and the long vowel by Lachmann's law or by the perfect ⟨fūdī⟩.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC)^[3] uses it in De natura deorum for the pouring or flowing of water, which shows that heat is mixed with it: ipse liquor aquae declarat et fusio.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the same work Cicero has it for an outpouring: Chrysippus, he says, called the world god and the universal outpouring of its soul.^[2][4] Vitruvius used it for a sprinkling of stars,^[2][4] and in Roman law it was a contribution in kind owed to the treasury.^[2] Lewis and Short also give the melting and casting of metal, and Ambrose has it for shedding blood.^[4]

In Medieval Latin it was a pouring, and above all the casting of molten metal and the smelting of ore.^[5] Ecclesiastical Latin also used it for a fusion or merger.^[6] English fusion (1550s, “melting by heat”) is from French or directly from the Latin.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for the flowing of water and for an outpouring.^[2][3]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a sprinkling of stars.^[2][3]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it for a contribution in kind to the treasury.^[2][3]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose writes of the shedding of blood.^[4][3]
• 1284 – A British account pays for the casting of bronze.^[5]
• 1550s – English borrows it as fusion.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pouring, the action of flowing.^[2]
2. An outpouring, effusion; a sprinkling (of stars).^[2][4]
3. (law) A contribution in kind due to the treasury.^[2]
4. A melting, casting of metal.^[4][5]
5. (Medieval Latin) The smelting of ore.^[5]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Fusion, merger.^[6]

Related words

• English fusion

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com