incensum

Forms

incēnsum n (genitive incēnsī); second declension.^[1][2]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the neuter past participle from Latin incendō (“to set on fire”).^[3][4][5] In the Latin Bible it usually renders Greek θυμίαμα (thumíama, “incense”).^[6] Isidore of Seville explained the name from its being consumed by fire as it is offered.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian uses it for a sacrifice.^[1][8]

Semantic evolution

In the Old Latin Bible it translated the Greek word for incense, and was then used of incense offerings and of the incense itself among Jews and Christians.^[6] Hilary of Poitiers describes its composition from four fragrant substances.^[6] It also meant a burnt sacrifice in general,^[1][3][9] and Ambrose uses hōra incēnsī for the hour of the incense offering.^[2][1]

Medieval Latin kept both the burning of incense and incense,^[4] with francum incēnsum for frankincense, incense paid as rent, and incense as an image of prayer.^[10] It is the source of Italian incenso and, through Old French encens, of English incense.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for a sacrifice.^[1][8]
• 3rd century AD – Cyprian speaks of offering incense to God.^[1][6][8]
• c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers describes what incense is made of.^[6][8]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose speaks of the hour of incense.^[2][1][8]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name.^[7][8]
• late 13th century – English borrows the word, through Old French, as incense.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) incense, the fragrant substance burnt in worship.^[1][2][9]
2. (Late Latin) A sacrifice, an offering burnt on the altar.^[1][3][9]
3. (Late Latin) The burning of incense; the lighting of lamps.^[2][1][4]

Related words

• incendo
• tus
• English incense

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
8. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ 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