Etymologically
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inflammatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ĩː.fɫamˈmaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iɱ.flamˈmat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

īnflammātiō f (genitive īnflammātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin īnflammō (“to set on fire”) + -tiō.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero, who uses it twice,[3] for the setting on fire of buildings, listed beside destruction and devastation.[2]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also uses it figuratively for the kindling of the mind: no one can be a good poet without inflammatio animorum.[2] From Celsus on it is common in medicine, mostly in the plural, for inflammation of the liver, the eyes or other parts;[3][2][4] later writers such as Florus use it again for a conflagration.[4]

Medieval Latin used it for kindling or burning, for heating, for a flame, for inflammation in medicine and for stirring someone up.[5] Stelten gives the Church Latin sense fire.[6] English borrowed it in the early 15th century as inflammation, in its medical sense, from Old French and directly from Latin.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of setting ablaze and of the kindling of the mind.[2][8]
  • AD 14–37 – Celsus uses it for inflammation in the body.[2][8]
  • c. 120 – Florus uses it for a conflagration.[4][8]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as inflammation.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A setting on fire, conflagration.[2][4]
  2. (figurative) A kindling (of the mind), excitement.[2]
  3. (medicine) Inflammation.[2][4]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Heating; a flame.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de