innovatio

Forms

innovātiō f (genitive innovātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin innovō (“to renew; to alter”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] Etymonline describes it as a noun of action from the participle stem of that verb, which is formed from in- (“into”) and novus (“new”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian is its first author.^[2][5] In Against Marcion he says that a book partly lost and partly miscopied needed correction to the point of renewal, and in On Fasting he speaks of observances fixed by Scripture or tradition, to which nothing more may be added because innovation is forbidden.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Late Latin used it both for change and for renewal.^[2][6] The Theodosian Code forbids altering prescribed shipments of grain and orders the old canons kept, “all innovation ceasing”, and Justinian's Institutes deny introducing a rule “by innovation”.^[2] Arnobius speaks of things that last through the renewal of continual succession,^[2][7] the Asclepius ascribed to Apuleius and Lactantius of the renewal of the world,^[2][3] and Augustine of the renewal of the body at the resurrection;^[2] Christian writers also used it for the renewal of man by faith and baptism.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it was a renewal or repair, as of a church chancel,^[8][9] and above all the renewal and confirmation of a charter, privilege or grant, and then the charter that confirms another.^{[8][10][9][11]} It could also be a change of coinage or of a seal, the bringing of waste land under cultivation, or the turn of the year;^[10] in Poland the reopening of a lawsuit and the opening of the university term at Kraków;^[11] and, in a bad sense, an unwelcome novelty.^[9] English innovation came from it in the mid-15th century, first meaning “restoration, renewal”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of changes to fixed observances and of the renewal of a damaged text.^[2][5]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of renewal through succession.^[2][5]
• end of the 4th century AD – The Asclepius ascribed to Apuleius speaks of the renewal of all things.^[2][3][5]
• 1152 – A charter in the Württemberg collection uses it of bringing land under cultivation.^[10]
• 1198 – An English charter calls its reissue under a new seal a renewal.^[8]
• 1277 – A diploma of Rudolf of Habsburg uses it of a change of coinage.^[10]
• mid-15th century – English innovation “restoration, renewal” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A change, alteration, innovation.^{[2][6][12][1]}
2. (Late Latin) A renewal;^{[2][3][13][7]} (Ecclesiastical Latin) the renewal of the world, or of man in the resurrection and in baptism.^{[2][3][13][7]}
3. (Medieval Latin) Repair, rebuilding.^[8][9][10]
4. (Medieval Latin) The renewal and confirmation of a charter, privilege or grant; a charter that confirms another.^{[8][10][9][11]}
5. (Medieval Latin) A change of coinage or of a seal; the bringing of land under cultivation.^[10]
6. (Medieval Latin, law) The reopening of a lawsuit.^[11]

Related words

• English innovation

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e 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
9. ^ a b c d e Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
10. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
13. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.