immunitas

Forms

immūnitās f (genitive immūnitātis); third declension^[1] It is also spelled inmūnitās.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin immūnis (“exempt, free”) + -tās.^[2][1] immūnis is formed from in- (“not”) and the stem of mūnus (“duty, obligation”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *moini- (“duty, obligation, task”); its Indo-European source, perhaps meaning exchange, is uncertain.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the OLD's earliest quotation Cicero asks what exemption from tax, what citizenship, what reward someone has not sold.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is exemption from taxes or tribute, and more widely from any public service, burden or duty: Caesar writes that the Druids are exempt from military service and all other burdens.^[2][3] Cicero has the rare genitive plural ⟨immūnitātium⟩.^[3] In the Frankish kingdoms it was the privilege of immunity: first exemption from public charges, then a ban on royal agents entering the privileged estate.^[5] English immunity comes from it, partly through Old French, from the late 14th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of exemption from tax.^[2][7]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of the Druids' exemption from all burdens.^[2][3][7]
• medieval – The Frankish privilege of immunity.^[5]
• late 14th century – English immunity.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Exemption from taxes or tribute.^[2][1]
2. Exemption from any public service, burden or duty, immunity.^[2][3][1][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) The privilege of immunity of an estate from royal officials.^[5]

Related words

• immūnis
• mūnus
• English immunity

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 h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson