Etymologically
Log in

inauguratio

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word inauguratio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
160–220 Tertullian More words from the 2nd century
Ultimate origin
Latin inaugurō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin augur
English augur
Latin augurō
Latin inaugurō
French inaugurer
Latin inaugurātiō
English inauguration
From the same root
Latin augurālis ← augur
Latin augurātus ← augur
Latin augurium ← augur

Forms

inaugurātiō f (genitive inaugurātiōnis); third declension[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin inaugurō + -tiō.[3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian, in his treatise against the Valentinians, uses it for a beginning.[1][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The TLL gives as its first sense a consecration or installation, reading it (restored) in Festus and finding it in the enlarged commentary of Servius on the Aeneid;[3][5] the sense of a beginning in Tertullian is derived from this.[1]

British medieval Latin used it for the consecration of a bishop, for the coronation of a king and, in the universities, for inception,[6] and Polish documents for the coronation of a king.[7] English took it in the 1560s, from French and directly from Late Latin.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for a beginning.[1][3][4]
  • c. 1360 – An Irish memorandum records the celebration of a bishop's consecration at Kilkenny.[6]
  • 1471 – A Polish document uses it for a royal coronation.[7]
  • 1549 – The Oxford statutes use it for academic inception.[6]
  • 1560s – English borrows it as inauguration.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Consecration, installation.[3][5]
  2. A beginning.[1][9][2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The consecration of a bishop.[6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A coronation.[6][7]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Inception at a university.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f 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
  7. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry

“Inauguratio.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/inauguratio. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·