iniunctio

Forms

iniūnctiō f (genitive iniūnctiōnis); third declension^[1] Lewis & Short, Niermeyer and the DMLBS spell it injunctio.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin iniungō (“to impose, enjoin”) + -tiō.^[2][5] Etymonline calls it Late Latin.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite it first from the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris, meaning an injunction or command, and label it Late Latin.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Merovingian saints' lives and formularies use it for a commission or charge given to someone; the MLW also records it for the imposition of a tax and of a penalty.^[7] Niermeyer glosses it “order”.^[3]

In British sources it is the order of a church, monastic, civil or academic authority, and the instruction of a testator.^[4] English took injunction from it in the early 15th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 431–486 – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it in his letters.^[2][5]
• 1293 – A Canterbury register uses it of an ecclesiastical order.^[4]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as injunction.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A command, order, injunction.^[2][3][7][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) A commission, charge.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin) The imposition of a tax or of a penalty.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften