hosanna

Forms

hōsannā (indeclinable); also ōsannā, hosianna and osianna^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὡσαννά (hōsanná),^[1][3] from Aramaic אושענא (ʾōshaʿnā),^[1] from Biblical Hebrew הוֹשַׁע נָא (hōshaʿ nā, “please save”).^[1][2] Etymonline takes the Hebrew to be probably a shortening of a phrase meaning “save, we pray”, as in Psalm 118:25.^[3] Stelten calls it Aramaic.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Köbler dictionary's first source is the Old Latin Bible (Itala), after 220 AD,^[2] and the TLL cites it there in the Gospels (Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9–10, John 12:13), often spelt with ⟨ss⟩.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The TLL records the forms hosianna, osianna and osanna: Eucherius says the full form is osianna and that it sounds osanna when shortened or corrupted, and Juvencus scans the first vowel long.^[5] Hilary explains it as Hebrew for the redemption of the house of David.^[5] The Bohemian lexicon describes it as first a cry of petition and later a cry of joy or homage.^[6] It entered the liturgy: an Anglo-Latin poem praises Christ with osanna for ever, and Roger Bacon glosses it “save, I beseech”.^[7] It also appears in the Burgundian laws and the capitularies,^[8] and Old English took osanna from Latin.^[3]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Old Latin Gospels have it.^[5][2]
• c. 325 AD – Juvencus uses it in verse, with a long first vowel.^[5][9][2]
• c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary explains its Hebrew meaning.^[5][2]
• c. 380–c. 450 AD – Eucherius gives osianna as the full form.^[5][2]

Meanings

Interjection

1. (Christianity) A cry of praise to God, hosanna.^[1][4][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) As a noun: praise; a festival or a song of praise.^[6][10][7]

Usage notes

Du Cange records a separate medieval osanna, a kind of hoe, from Papias.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
5. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Liber exquisiti xenii: Lexikon frühmittelalterlicher Rechtswörter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
11. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre