Etymologically
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illusio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪlˈluː.si.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ilˈluː.s̬i.o][1]

Forms

illūsiō f (genitive illūsiōnis); third declension[1] Also spelled ⟨inlūsiō⟩.[2][3] Medieval spellings include ⟨illussio⟩.[4][5]

Etymology

It is from Latin illūdō (“to make sport of, mock”) + -tiō.[2][1][6] The verb is formed from in- and lūdō (“to play”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero is its first author: in the De Oratore he lists among the figures of thought understatement and, joined to it, illūsiō, mockery.[2][6][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Quintilian makes it the Latin name of irony: in the kind of allegory that shows the contrary of what is said, εἰρωνεία est: illūsiōnem vocant, “it is irony; they call it illusio”.[2][6][3] After him the TLL finds it in the Itala, the old Latin Bible, for mockery,[6] and the Vulgate has subsannātiō et illūsiō, “a scorn and a derision”, to one's neighbours.[6][8]

Church writers also used it for deception and false appearances, and for temptation:[6][3][9] Ambrosiaster speaks of the illusion of the devil, and Cassian of illusions in sleep.[6] Augustine has impleta est anima mea illūsiōnibus, “my soul is filled with illusions”.[8] Medieval Latin kept the senses of mockery and of deception or delusion:[10][5] Hildegard of Bingen writes that jasper drives away the fantasies and illusions of demons, and in medicine it was a phantom of sight and, by euphemism, a nocturnal emission.[5] English illusion, through Old French, meant “mockery” in the mid-14th century and “deception” in the late 14th;[7] Etymonline says the sense of deceptive appearance developed in Church Latin.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero names it among the figures of thought.[2][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it for irony.[2][4]
  • after 220 AD – The Itala uses it for mockery.[6][4]
  • last third of the 4th century AD – Ambrosiaster speaks of the illusion of the devil.[6][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for derision.[6][4]
  • c. 360–c. 435 AD – Cassian uses it of illusions in sleep.[6][4]
  • mid-14th century – English illusion “mockery” is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Mockery, ridicule, jeering.[2][3][10]
  2. (rhetoric) Irony, the saying of the opposite of what is meant.[2][9]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Deception, delusion, a false image; a temptation.[3][6][9][11]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A phantom, hallucination.[5][10]
  5. (Medieval Latin, medicine) A nocturnal emission.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson