inceptio

Forms

inceptiō f (genitive inceptiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin incipiō (“to begin”) + -tiō.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence uses it for an undertaking in the Andria: “inceptiost amentium, haud amantium”, “it is an enterprise of madmen, not of lovers”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it for a beginning, saying there was never a beginning of so splendid a work as the world,^[2] and Quintilian for the opening of a sentence as opposed to its close.^[2][3] Apuleius uses it too.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it kept the senses of a beginning, an origin and an undertaking, and was also used for the intoning of a chant;^[4] British sources use it for the opening words of a text.^[5] In the universities it named the inception, the ceremony at which a new master or doctor was admitted to teach, and the inaugural lecture.^[6][5][7] English took inception in the early 15th century, from Old French and directly from Latin.^[8]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for an undertaking.^[2][9]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for the beginning of a work.^[2][9]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it for the opening of a sentence.^[2][9]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as inception.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A beginning, start.^[2][3]
2. (rhetoric) The opening of a sentence.^[2]
3. An undertaking, enterprise.^[2][3]
4. (Medieval Latin) Inception: formal admission as a master or doctor at a university.^[6][5]
5. (Medieval Latin) The opening words of a text, incipit.^[5]
6. (Medieval Latin, music) The intoning of a chant.^[4]

Related words

• inceps
• incepto
• inceptor
• inceptus
• English inception

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d 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
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de